Awakening of a Soulter
by Zacharei
Summary: If you love Bleach, than you love this remixed adaptation of it. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
1. Rude Awakening

**Chapter One**

**The Rude Awakening**

"Wh-Where am I…?" she muttered to herself, as she gazed around the forest, unsure of where exactly she was, or how in earth she got to this strange, and remote location.

Serene stood there, her body cold and frigid, from the night air, her perceptive eyes, the sense now dull, by the night, the moon which glowed upon the sky, was now gone, and darkness seemed to be cast throughout the land, her heart and mind racing with thought. How did she end up in this place anyway, she took a step, the darkness creeping behind her, though it wasn't what she couldn't see, that freaked her out the most, it was what she could see, the area around her was so vivid, her senses, which were once so dull, were now viciously at its peak of keenness.

Her vision was now extremely vivid, she could see everything around her, and even sense movements before it happened, she could notice, just when a dark emerald jleaf saturated with water, would soon fall delicately to the ground, with almost no actual sound, but a small rustle.

She gave another look, and realized she was standing deep in the woods, beyond deep, probably the deepest, she'd ever been, it seemed so far off from civilization, from her home, their wasn't even a street light, she could see off in the distance, there was just more woods. She took a glance up at the sky, and looked up, soon realizing it was night, the dark sky, haunting above her, the illuminating moon, preciously up in the sky, seeming to guide her way out of the forest, though there was no exact clear path. Wherever she turned, there were deep patches of undergrowth, where ever you turned, there was some type of shrub, plant, tree, or some piece of foliage, blocking her path, and making it extremely difficult to find her way out of here. She soon looked up, and the moon disappeared, but her vision, was still as illuminating, as if the sun were still out. All the sudden, the stars started illuminating the sky, as though it were diamonds, she tried to find the northern star, maybe that would help her find her way home, though she wasn't very good at astronomy, or connect the dots for that matter, she gave a sigh.

She took in a deep breath, the icy cold air filled her lungs, and seemed to be a sharpening pain, causing her to wince in pain, the air was so sharp and cold, that it was actually causing her to shiver. Now the area around her, seemed to become icy cold, it was now freezing, she tried to rub her hands together to increase friction, and try to keep her warm, though it did not seem to have much effect.

She looked down to a small puddle, obviously it had just rained here, though it felt as though it was in the temperature for the water to freeze, though it didn't it stayed the same, cold and wet. She stared down, her reflection seeming to haunt her, she looked away in dismay and shock, though she had to look back, just to make sure what she saw was the truth, and not some prank, though was this whole world, an illusion, a prank, brought to her, by her friends.

She looked down at the reflective puddle, making sure the truth, was correct and factual, her hair was still the same, brown, and straight, though a bit frizzled, and messy, due to the fact, that she had been in the woods, and it was humid somewhat. She was still wearing her usual outfit, a plain white t-shirt, and blue jeans, very common, and normal she thought, and it complimented her lifestyle quite well. Her skin, was still tan, she could tell, even in this dense, and dark lighting, that her skin still looked as healthy and radiant, as it always did. What scared her the most, were her eyes, which were now a piercing yellow, not a deep green. They were usually a deep sea green, with what she called, a sophisticated look, like they usually were, no a piercing yellow, which seemed not to be her eyes at all, they had a much more serious and olden look to them, as though they had seen more in their lifetime, than most others, could even imagine. She stared around her neck, and there was the usual blue necklace, which hung around her neck.

Her ears were as sharp as her eyes as well. She could even pick up the tiniest movement beyond the distant woods, her sense of touch, seemed to burn at all the new sensations, she was feeling, a swift movement, and she would pick it up, a slight breeze, would drive her senses crazy, as though wondering what would happen next.

Though what frightened her, was that she had only gained this strange ability, in only a matter of seconds, but once more, something was crawling toward her, at an unbelievably fast rate, that her eyes, though strengthened and keen, could barely track, its swift movements, as it prowled beyond the darkness, of the thick foliage, leaving her tense and nervous.

She could slowly hear her heart rate, pick up, as the creature neared, and to her horror, her heart rate, the mere sound of it, started getting slower and slower, and then it started to increase rapidly as the creature made a swift movement, to the side of the bushes.

Obviously, trying to wait for the moment to strike her down, and feed on her flesh, which was making her tense and it took all of her will power, not to scream, for what could she do, she was caught unarmed.

it seemed in this remote, dark forest, that no one was going to save her, that she was trapped, and going to die, alone, and no one would probably ever find her, but of course who cared about her, she had so many friends, though sometimes, she wondered if they really her friends, what was friendship anyway?

Suddenly the creature, moved in closer to her, it looked as though some kind of insect mixed in with a dog, its fangs, was hanging out of its mouth, stained a deep golden yellow. Its insect body, the color was a deep brown, six arms hanging out from the side, and two monstrous legs, which looked to belong to some kind of deformed dog, which had mutated with an insect, a very disgusting image, which would probably haunt Serene's memories, if she lived that long. The size of the monstrous being, was around eight feet, a foot and four inches towering over her, which made her cringe a bit in fear, though she didn't scream, in fear of alerting more of its kind. The insect's breathe, seemed to be really in nauseating, she took in a slow breathe in, and suddenly fell to her knees, gasping for air, as the clean air rushed out of her lungs, and the poison enter her lungs, causing her to gag, and it took all her willpower to fight back, from vomiting.

She stood their shaking; cold icy visible breath escaped from her lips, seeming to taunt her, at how freezing the climate was, seeming to make her wish, that she was home, in the warm afternoon sun, though she was not, she was trapped in this thick forest, that seemed to be tropical, but the temperatures, were sub-zero.

Her vision soon blurred, and without thought, the monster soon stood readying its claws, about to strike her down, giving a large hiss, from its massive mouth, its fangs dripping with poisonous venom, which seemed to ridicule her. "What's going on…" she whispered, to herself, as her body was growing numb, this time, she couldn't fight back the urge no longer, her stomach was weakening, just being in the presence of the monster, was enough to make her ill. She suddenly heaved her left over lunch, on a nearby tree, while leaning against it, the smell rising to her nose, causing her to gag again, the smell tainted of not only vomit, but blood as well.

Out of pure curiosity, she looked down, and sure enough, in the remains of her lunch, covered in stomach acid, in a reddish tint, was a bit of blood, the sight was almost enough to make her vomit again, though this time, she managed to keep her cool, and composure.

She looked back at the large monster, but just as it struck, a flash of white, suddenly appeared from behind her, curving ever so slightly, the white light, was in the shape of a crescent moon, the sudden impact of the light into the monster. She watched in pure amazement, and awe, as the monster, seemed to dissipate and scatter, as though the whole skeleton, and insect, had been made of some blackish sand material, it soon scattered as the wind picked up, a puddle of blood left in its nonappearance.

She turned her head, to see, in the direction of where the white light came from, if this new creature, was going to attack her now, she gazed over, and looked over at the figure, which was sort of blurry, she blinked to try and readjust her vision. However, in a split a second, the figure moved almost rapidly, she could not even track it, at how fast it was moving.

"Be careful." Said the figure solemnly, it seemed to be a male's voice, he did not really add anything else to his speech, the figure still seemed to be blurry, though she could make out a few features, first there was his outfit, which was a black cloak, seemed to hide his facial features. The next, was a small thin black blade, which loosely hung in its sheath on the back of his cloak. His build, did not seem to be that strong, he actually looked somewhat scrawny, what little features, that she could see, that did not hide behind his cloak. When she looked as he pulled his sleeves up, he looked ripped, even more ripped than her boy friend, she stared at him amazed, and she soon realized, he was about three inches taller than she was, though he still held a mysterious presence, she wanted to see his face.

"Who are you?" asked Serene, shocked, as she was so grateful, someone else was here, though she was also panicked, that the person, could turn out to be the person, who got her in this mess in the first place. Her heart was pounding, she did not want to fight anymore, she was cold, and now starving, all she wanted to do was go home, and take a long nap. She suddenly fell to her knees, unable to stand, what was this; there was this massive pressure on her, something incredibly strong.

She looked up, and a new sense seemed to open up, something so rare and delicate, though she seemed to of always had this sense, a sense of danger approaching, though this was different, she could actually feel this actual demonic aura. She could now even feel this strange figure's presence, though it felt cloudy, as though he was keeping it down for some reason, why would he hold back, if there were so many monsters here. Suddenly everything darkened, and everything disappeared, she was able to stand, she felt something happening in her eyes, her eyes were increasing vision, she felt something opening up, a new ability, several ribbons started falling all around her, some as black as night, some as gray as a silver blade, some as crimson as blood, some as white as snow. All the sudden, the black ribbons began to fall, causing her to fall to her knees, this force, this pressure, was massive, she could not move, she could not breathe, whatever it was it seemed to have a large power, beyond hers.

She soon awakened on the ground, she felt something dripping from her side, it was a red liquid, her flesh cut open, by some kind of beast, claw marks, engraved in her skin, making her break out into tears, as a burning sensation, filled her side.

"GET UP!" boomed a voice, it was the guy, he was holding back, some gigantic insect type creature again, which was obviously taking a lot of energy out of him, he was having a hard time, deflecting all of its rapid claw strikes which seemed to be mainly toward him, barely guarding each hit. He soon thrust his blade toward its chest, only to have it swiped away, he watched as his blade skidded in the mud, and landed near a tree, she wanted to go retrieve it and help him out. However, the poison had now completely spread throughout her body, she was now coughing up blood, and her legs felt as though they had turned into lead, her face was broke out in a sweat, and she felt desperate for some water. What, once felt like an icy climate, felt like a desert, as a fire seemed to burn inside of her, burning away her flesh, and making her gasp for breath.

The figure looked over at her, he was now dodging the attacks, trying to fend off the monster, with only his bare fists, what kind of idiot was this, why was he fighting, did he really have a purpose. "Run!" she yelled toward him, hoping he would listen, she stared over at him; sweat still was pouring from her face. She watched as he made a small movement, for something that was tied to his cloak, it was a small canister of something, he soon kicked the monster away, and wasting no time, as it started flying off toward a tree, where it dissolved into a blackish sand, and then the blackish sand, was carried by the wind. He soon pulled out a canister, and stumbled toward Serene, not really seeming to care about his injuries, he forced Serene up, grabbing her by the arm, and forcing the canister to her lips, and tilting her head back making her drink it.

Serene stared up shocked, and scared, wondering if she was drinking poison, though she had no choice, the taste of the liquid, seemed to taste like most favorite thing in the world to her, a batch of fresh made brownies, she felt her wounds, and gash, seeming to heal almost instantaneously. The moment the drink was over, she felt a massive headache throughout her body, and she soon fainted again.

"Wake up!" yelled a familiar voice, something began to shake her at a rapid pace, without warning, she jumped up, and punched whatever was shaking her, with a rapid thrust of her hand. She rubbed her eyes, groggily, and waited for her vision to clear, only to find her best friend, lying on the ground, rubbing his cheek, muttering something about her, being excessively strong, and mean in the mornings.

"Don't scare me like that!" snapped Serene, as she looked down at Ryan, who was glaring up at her, in a sympathetic kind of way, as though trying to figure out, what exactly he had done, to make her so angry at him, he gave a sigh, and stood up.

She looked around her room, her room was very average, though it had her own personal touch to it, the room was painted a light violet color, to her window sill, was a small bed, the kinds that were mainly for show, on the small bed, stuff animals were lined, to the right of the room, was a small macintosh computer, which she didn't really use, due to the fact, that she needed Ryan's help to use the blasted thing, he made it look so easy. Though he seemed to have a lot of intelligence, so it wasn't very hard to believe that he could operate something like that. To the left of her room, was a large sliding white door, that opened up to a large walk-in closet, which held a lot of "junk" to Ryan's description, though it was all clothes, and shoes that she'd bought. The room,was furnished with a white carpet, that seemed to match the color design of the room, next was her bed, which was just a normal bed, covered in white bed sheets, to the right of the bed, was a night stand, which held a white lamp, and several drawers, filled with a lot of personal things, that Ryan had snuck into once and a while and scanned through and read, without her permission. The main lighting of the room, was a chandelier, which was placed high atop her room, which gave light to everything, the light bulbs, seemed to be very reflective, as though it were actual pure ice.

Serene looked down at Ryan, some memories suddenly flooded back to her, about their so far existent lives together, how they'd met, and how they'd talked to each other, and so forth. He still looked the same as always, scrawny, and not really looking that smart, despite that, he was probably the smartest kid in the whole state, and has gotten some honors for being the smartest kid in the United States.

Ryan, had messy brown hair, which seemed to never be combed in an appropriate fashion, though he really didn't seem to care, much about his hair, he said "It would never ever be able to get combed, to an actual decent fashion." The next thing, was he did not really look all that strong, and this was an actual fact, he wasn't that fast, or very athletic, though he didn't stay cooped up in the house either, when they were little, they used to explore the woods, and stuff. Though as they got older, they did not do any of that stuff, anymore, though they had actually drifted apart, probably when they both entered the sixth grade. If you think it was classes, that split them apart, you would be wrong, they were both in honor classes, and both had high averages, except Ryan, would sometimes have a ninety-two, due to he lost a lot of his work, and sometimes, would mess up on quizzes just for the fun of it. Ryan did not dress in usual attire, he usually dressed up, in a shirt and tie, and always had to look professional, you had to look sharp, if you were going to be the richest person in the world right?

"Are you going to change, we're going to be late to school, if you just stand there, unless you want me to call Drew, and tell him, about the monsters hidden in the woods." He said, laughing, in amusement, and soon, he found himself being pushed out of the room and with a slight kick, he was than shoved out into the hallway, to wait for her to get her shower, and get dressed.

Ryan looked down at his black digital watch, which hung tightly to his wrist, and looked down, and waited patiently, about two hours had passed, and it was around six-thirty five, they had to be at school at Eight-o-clock, it was a thirty-minute walk from their house to the school, so they would be all right. Ryan thought back on their child hood together, let's see they both had only one parent, he had his dad, and she had her dad, as well. Though Serene didn't know much about her mother, other than she left her a necklace, her father had told her, she died giving birth to her, which was kind of sad, since she didn't even know her mom.

He knew about her mom, in fact, something he knew something horrible that had happened to her, she had died, though he knew he could not. In fact, he was to go to her grave, in just a couple of days; he would visit his deceased mother, and go see her. The memory lurked in his mind, everything seemed to play out so perfect, though he tried to repress it as best he could, though some things popped into his head. Though words everything, vivid pictures popped into his head. He closed his eyes, and tried to push the thoughts away, though they kept coming back stronger and vivid than ever. He felt sick, just the thoughts being their, just the fact that it happened, over powered him. Without warning, he began to cry silently, though the tears were silently astray.

**You're fault...**

**The storm, that's what happened.**

**It was horrible, that June third...**

**You killed her...**

**It was just a hallucination, how could a hallucination do so much damage...**

The memory started coming back to his mind, but the moment the flash back started, he pushed it away, just as quickly as he came, and he changed the subject, trying to think of something, else, though it was very hard to, he was in such a negative mood. He gave a slight cough, and than sighed, in frustration, he wiped the tears away, that were stinging down his face, he knew he shouldn't cry, but he couldn't help it, he was a murderer, he killed her, he didn't care if it was by accident. He still killed everything this family was held up by, it was his own fault...

Ryan was very "special", he had some eye problems, for one he had dyslexia, and his other problem was he would hallucinate sometimes, he would see things that weren't even there, he would see transparent figures walking around, and walking as though they were searching for something, almost as if they were ghosts. If this were the case, if the ghosts were still on this planet Earth, and then maybe he could someday find his mother, though it would all just be a waste of energy, and hope.

Suddenly the door opened, and a newly looking, and smiling, Serene walked out from the door, smiling gracefully, and seeming to be radiant. She was dressed in an elegant dress, seeming to hold a certain pride to herself, today was a formal dance, and they had to dress formal, Ryan seemed to of already met the qualifications, if not of taken them a bit too "formal". "I bet Drew, will love my new look, don't you?" asked Serene, as she looked over at Ryan's opinion, though he didn't seem to be paying attention, he was too busy, still thinking over his search plan, through his mind for his mother.

Ryan looked up, and suddenly he felt his cheeks redden, and his face turning a deep scarlet, he was at a loss for words, he quickly turned away, and hid his smile, and the color in his cheeks. "Y-Y-You look nice, Serene" mumbled Ryan, as he turned to look in another direction, not meeting her gaze.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" exclaimed Serene, as she looked over at him confused, her face reddened, and she seemed to have an almost scowl across her face, as though she would explode at any second.

"Nothing, you look nice, Drew will like it, alright" snapped Ryan, as he looked down at the floor, and wondered how they kept their house so clean, and why it was so big, if it only was accompanied by two people.

Serene stared over at Ryan, her face suddenly blushing, she didn't say anything, she was actual at a loss for words, Ryan, I wonder how clueless you are… she thought, wondering if her best friend, may have some special feelings toward her, but she wasn't going to say anything, instead, she smiled brightly over toward him. "Well let's hurry, you've wasted enough time as it is." She told him, as she gave him a quick smile, as they rushed down stairs and headed toward the doorway, and outside, as they walked the path toward school.

Ryan looked up, at the sky, a cloudy figure, stood in the distance, ontop of a sky scraper moving constantly, something even more blurrier in the distance, though he couldn't tell. He looked over at Serene, who gave a slight nervous look, as though she could sense something wrong at this very moment, though she didn't know exactly what.

"What's the matter?" asked Ryan, casually, as he gave a slight glance, trying to look as concerned as possible, though his mind kept racing off toward the cloudy figures, he had to focus, and not lose concentration no matter what.

"Oh what, nothing..." she muttered, as she casually, sped up briskly, and made a quick discreet glance behind her, unsure what was going on. "Do you ever have those dejavu feelings?" she asked, as she looked over at Ryan.

"No, not really." said Ryan, oblivious that she was kind of upset and frightened. "Does it really matter, anyway?" asked Ryan, as he looked over at Serene, who was now looking a lot scared.

Suddenly they came to a street, they just had to cross, and than they would take a left, and be at school. Ryan took a step out in the road, and suddenly felt something pull him back, he looked over at Serene, who looked as though she was about to be on the verge of crying.

"What's the matter?" asked Ryan, irritably, he hated to see her cry, for some reason he couldn't stand it. What was that thing his mother told her..." A man may have strength, in his brute force, but a woman's tears is more powerful than that... or something like that." he couldn't remember, and frankly he didn't care.

Serene looked up "Nothing, well its just I've been having these really bad dreams lately, and well, most of them end up coming true, though its all scattered bits and pieces, sometimes I'm in a forest, sometimes I'm here, watching you, though I'm not sure... in one of my dreams, you got hit by a car."

"Well I'm fine, now you shouldn't have such weird dreams, just calm down, Serene, I'm your best friend, and I'm not stupid I won't leave you, I promise, I got to make sure Drew keeps you safe, and is a right choice, before I leave you." said Ryan, with a bit of laughter, as they went on to school.

Serene gave a fake laugh, but smiled, though the nervousness crept, back into her, as they entered the school, something just kept prickling at her, it had something to do with her dream last night. "Hey, Ryan, have you heard about the explosions, and stuff on television?"

"Explosions no, you're being morbid again though" said Ryan, as he looked over at Serene, who was staring off in the distance. He gave a sigh, and gave her a slight tap on the shoulder, why he opened his locker, and looked over at her.

"oh, well the explosions, have been all over the news, no body can figure out what's causing them, their have even been some cases, where they've released toxic gasses, where people start hallucinating, that their being attacked by monstrous forces, its all really sad, the worst part is, it's happening in our town the most, in fact its mainly been our town, we get one everyday... I'm kind of nervous... I mean school has been threatened to be canceled, but what good with that do?' asked Serene, as she started rambling on, about stuff.

Ryan was halfway not paying attention, and was more interested in where his left over gum was from yesterday, that he left in his locker. He looked over at her, and gave a grin, "Did you say something?" he asked playfully, and gave a smirk.


	2. What in the World

Chapter Two

What in the world…

Ryan plopped his book bag down, next to his desk, in a slight heave, his book bag was always so hard to carry, he said it weighed around forty-five pounds, though he was not exactly sure, one thing was sure, he did not put anything in his locker. "It's a waste of time, to have to go to the Locker." said Ryan, as he looked over Serene, who was giving him a look of desperation, as though, wondering why she ever was his best friend.

"Honestly, Ryan…" she muttered, as she looked at him, shaking her head in dismay, "Do you really have to carry everything, I can't wait to see you when you're older, you'll look really good, but you'll be hunched back." She said, with a sigh, as she looked over at him, and gave a slight giggle, as he gave her a slight push, and looked away, as though he had done nothing wrong.

Suddenly Drew walked into the classroom, not really seeming to care, he looked kind of older, than everyone else, his height sure told the tale, he was several inches taller than everyone, and seemed to always have a look of trouble in his eyes, seeming to try and look for something to do. His hair was somewhat neatly combed, and a bit short, he was tall, he wore expensive clothes, and seemed to like showing off his wealth and superiority. Ryan thought he was a show off, though he was not jealous of him, and he enjoyed his presence, because he got to annoy Serene, a lot about it.

"Hey, Serene, your cheeks are glowing." whispered Ryan lightly, avoiding Drew's attention or gaze, he quickly pulled out his language arts vocabulary book. Which he had not bothered to do, and quickly rushed through marking answers, hoping to at least get a seventy-four on it, though when he usually rushed through it only having seconds he made a low B, that wouldn't affect his average too badly.

"Serene, what did you get for answer number five?" Ryan asked quickly, as he took a quick glance toward the door, as he rapidly started flipping through pages, trying to match definitions, with sentences, which he was horrible at. He quickly jotted down an answer, feeling annoyed and pressured, he wrote it quickly, barely able to read his own handwriting, he closed his book, just as quickly as the teacher entered, and still left one blank, which was number five.

"I see you didn't do your homework, Ryan?" asked Mrs.Joy, as she looked over at him, curiously, looking to pursue that she was correct. "I'm going to start taking ten points off your grade, that way, you actually feel, a bit threatened." Said Mrs.Joy, as she looked over at Ryan, who was now not paying attention, and glaring over at Serene, in disgust, who was making affectionate eyes, toward Drew, her mouth agape, though Ryan was not going to bother her, in fear of getting the cold shoulder, which he always got anyway, when Drew was around.

A few minutes passed, after checking their work, and Ryan, made out his grade on his paper, and realized it was a hundred, minus ten, which would equal him at a ninety, he felt like rebelling, but he decided that would be exactly what she wanted, he didn't say anything, and made a slight glance, of not caring. Suddenly he felt something hit him in the back of his head, he looked over at Serene, and who was staring over at him angrily.

"Look, what you've done now, you could have had a hundred, and now you got a ninety, what if your dad going to say." She said, as she shook her head, and suddenly as she was about to fuss some more, the door slight opened, and what was about to walk in, was going to shock the whole class, but to some, it would change their lives forevermore.

The girl walked into the room, she seemed almost abnormal, her looks presumed that of a princess, she was dress very elegantly, her hair was put in an nice fashion, her hair was shoulder length, and combed straight, her eyes were a deep piercing blue, she was wearing a pink fashionable dress, which seemed a bit outdated, but it complimented her style very nicely, and most of the guys couldn't help, but look up. The strangest thing about her though, was her hair, it seemed different out of place, yet on her it, actually looked like her natural hair color, a light pink. Her skin was fair, and a bit pale, not very tan, though she seemed to smile widely.

She gazed over toward Ryan, and met his eyes, seeming to hold a lot of knowledge. She smiled toward Ryan, and suddenly her facial expression, changed to that of a curious one, Ryan's cheeks blushed slightly, and suddenly everything seemed to feel heavy, his stomach was tied in a knot, and so was his tongue. He couldn't help, but realize he was shaking gradually.

"Now, class this is Eris Evelyn" said Mrs.Joy, as she didn't seem to pay attention that Ryan, had been completely put in love shock, or maybe she did, cause she gave a small bit of laughter, shook her head, and written an assignment, up on the board, and then sat down at her desk. "Oh Ms.Evelyn, I believe there is an empty seat next to Ryan." She said, as she pointed toward the open seat, where Ryan's book bag sat, he put it there for easy access.

"You okay?" asked Serene, as she looked over at Ryan, a bit jealous of the new girl, that Ryan was staring over at her, she felt a weird feeling, that it quickly evaporated, once Ryan, completely ignored her.

"Pie…" he muttered, not really having a clue what he was saying, or talking about himself, a thousand thoughts were rushing through his head, at just the look of this new girl, who was she, he wasn't sure what to say, maybe he should say hey, he wasn't exactly sure.

"Hi." Said Eris, directing her attention toward Ryan, as she flipped open her, book, she made a slight nervous glance out the window, as though the glass was about to implode, and suddenly life as we knew it would cease to exist, though her expression seemed very calm, though she seemed bit jumpy.

_Maybe I'm just over reacting; I mean it's her first day of school, but she's extremely jumpy, what is she in trouble with the law or something? No one that pretty can be in trouble with the law, I mean what kind of trouble can someone as pretty and delicate can she bring. _Thought Ryan, as he jotted down a couple of notes, though he was sort of absence minded, Ryan glanced up a couple of times, to see that Drew, had looked up a couple of glances over toward her.

Suddenly Ryan, held a cell phone go off, it didn't really have an annoying ringtone, though the teacher, glanced up, and was trying to figure out where it was coming from, as though it had been very silent, though Ryan could tell that it was Eris's, so he was still trying to figure out, why she hadn't noticed, "Hey, we're not-", Before Ryan could finish his sentence, Eris ran off, toward the hallway.

Without thinking, Ryan started running after her, he quickly started running as quickly as he could, suddenly he felt some kind of energy flowing through out him, suddenly he flew open the doors, and followed after her, why was she in such a rush anyway?

Ryan, kept running after Eris, for several miles, until they were off of the school campus, and near his house, it seemed to be some giant cloudy figure off in the distance, and without warning, suddenly Eris fell to the ground, but then another cloudy figure appeared, right in front of her.

"Hey, who are-" Ryan, grabbed her by the shoulder, and suddenly a burning sensation filled throughout his body, something started to burn throughout his body, first at his chest, but than a rapid numbness, started, spreading quicker and quicker, his pulse quickened, his began to breathe more heavy, and suddenly he fell to his knees, unsure what was happening to him, he felt something, flowing throughout his body, and suddenly the cloudy images, began to become more and more vivid, by every single blink.

Ryan stared up, at the giant cloudy figure, which was larger than his house, it was some gigantic large looking insect creature, it's eyes were a giant stinging yellow. It's face, was a solid and deep white, it's eyes underlined with a deep black, pitch, which seemed to glare toward him, without any reference, of happiness, just staring into its eyes, made him feel a deep pressure, and sickness fall over him, he couldn't even move, he was scared, so scared that he couldn't even move, his heart was going at a rapid pace, he couldn't even blink, his eyes were fixed on the target.

"What's going on..." he whispered, he looked back up at the figure, suddenly he blinked, and realized that black drops of rain were falling from the sky, he tried to breathe, though the liquid was not like rain, it was thick, and it had an awful stench, something vile, and sordid. He began to cough, trying to stand, though he couldn't even move, he couldn't think, everything was happening so fast.

The sun, which was once high above the sky, was now completely gone, he wasn't if it was a solar eclipse, or if the dark, and clouds, which were scattered across the sky, which was dropping a thick black liquid, which seemed to be have some of the same qualities like blood, though the color, and smell of it, seemed to contain something vile, and tainted. His senses, seemed to be completely distorted, from just looking at it, he felt weak and sick.

The cloudy figure turned around in a rapid motion, wondering where the voice came from, she stared over at Ryan, who was on his hands and knees, acting as though he was drowning, as though he was standing on a planet, that had not a single breathe of oxygen. "It must, be the monster's spiritual presence, I'll have to destro-" she suddenly turned around, as a massive explosion, knocked her off her feet, she landed several feet, in front of the door, which was now ripped off the hinges of the house, it seemed to be nearly destroyed, it lay in pieces of shattered wood, little pieces, and splinters, stuck in the grass.

The monster sniffed the air, taking in the aroma, trying to find out where this fresh, and amazing "scent" came from, suddenly he pushed a hand, which was once kind of like an insect's was now a large skeletal, and monstrous hand, flesh, building up upon, it's skeletal feature, causing Ryan to take in the aroma, of rotting flesh, causing him to have to vomit, blood now leaving his stomach, as his heart began to pick up an even faster pace than earlier, he was sure he was going to die, their was no way he could survive, this heart attack, but he thought you had to be old to get one, so why, was he dieing right here, he always had ate healthy, and exercised, at least once daily.

Memories started flashing through his head, he couldn't even think straight, everything seemed to rapidly flow through his mind, everything seemed to hurt, everything was growing numb, suddenly he felt something growing on his face, he felt it being disfigured, changed, modified, he felt his face, his hand touched, and icy cold smooth surface, it wasn't his face, it was cold barren, and the moment his hand touched whatever was now on it's face, it began to burn a deep black flame, his body was now shaking, and he couldn't breathe, the air was so thick here, why couldn't he move. A memory filled his head, several, but this one was so vivid and clear...

_**"Ryan, will you go to the dance with me..." whispered Serene, as she looked over at him, and turned her head away, and looked over at the mirror, which stood across her room, the words seemed to be blank, but they held so much stiff emotions, he couldn't even comprehend it. Without warning, she leaned onto Ryan, who held her softly, though he couldn't really say anything, whatever he was going to say, escaped his lips, though the words weren't his, they weren't his thoughts, though it happened so rapidly, he couldn't have time to object. "No."**_

_**"I knew it." whispered Serene, as she stood up, and pulled away from Ryan, and motioned him to leave, obviously she was upset, tears falling from her eyes, but why, they were just friends weren't they, Ryan didn't understand a girl's emotions, and it was really started to anger him, though he felt more upset than angry.**_

_**Ryan couldn't say anything, he was still stunned, about what he'd said, he left her room, and exited, unsure what to say, or do, so he just left, thoughts rushing through his mind, but he had no choice, he couldn't go back and erase time.**_

"She's not here!" exclaimed the beast, as he plowed through the house, making a mess of everything, "mmmmh, a snack!" the beast, as he pulled up a small girl from Ryan's house, his younger sister, named Karyn, her hair was a light brown, and she seemed to always smile, she used to always hang out with her mother, before she died, but ever since than, she became a lot more shy, and seemed to always stay to herself, and read. "Ryan, help me!" yelled Karyn, as she screamed, not realizing what was happening, she couldn't move, to her, she was just floating up in space. "I-I-I can't breathe!" she managed to scream out hopelessly. She usually didn't have that many friends, and usually was quiet, she also helped cook, even if she was just ten, she enjoyed to cook for her family, though some meals were really good, and others were, kind of bad, Ryan always smiled, when she cooked, because she always smiled doing it.

Suddenly the mask shattered into pieces, his heart felt a bit sick, though he knew it was gone, as his pulse went back to normal, though he couldn't see anything out of his right eye for a moment, but than it went back to a hazy image, though he couldn't help it. Suddenly his vision returned, and air rushed into his lungs, as he managed to stand, though his body feeling slightly weaker.

Ryan looked up, the voice, ringing in his ears, panic taking over, he couldn't take it anymore, without warning, without barely thinking, he stood up, and charged toward the monster, unsure of what he was doing, or what he was going to do, all he knew, was he wasn't going to let his sister get eaten, by some large monster.

"What-Paralysis, skies and the heavens bind this moving spirit, hold peace and prosperity for thee!" yelled Serene, as she made a couple of hand signs, and suddenly Ryan froze in his tracks, his body unmoving, he began to cough, unsure what was going on.

"Hey, what are you doing!" yelled Ryan, as he looked up, toward the figure, and glared, "My sister, is up their, and you saying all this crap, go get help, and un free me!" yelled Ryan, not sure, what was going on, but he had to blame someone, and she seemed to be the cause of it. "Let GO!" yelled Ryan, as he stood up, and managed to stumble toward the figure, unable to move his arms, behind his back, though he wasn't going to stand here, and watch his sister die.

"What, are you doing, don't struggle, you'll only shorten your life span, no ordinary human, can break that spell, even if it's D-class." said the girl, as she looked over at him, a sudden bit of shock filled her eyes, as Ryan, was managing to break the D-class spell as though it was nothing. "abindment, from the ground and the earth, may the spirits guard your soul in harmony!" yelled Eris, as she made another sign, a seal was now placed on Ryan's face. "That should hold you, it's a B-ranked spell, even a soulter, or a soultrice, would have trouble breaking that bond." said Eris, confidently, as she turned toward the monster, she started running toward the beast, her blade drawn, ready to make a move to attack.

"Ryan!" yelled Karyn, as she looked over at him, desperately hoping he was okay, she didn't care about her own safety, she just wanted to see that Ryan was okay, he'd been her only friend, all the sudden, the monster's grip tightened, and the air rushed out of her lungs, and she was soon knocked unconscious.

"Shut up..." yelled the monster, in a cackle of fiendish laughter, as he stared down at the young girl, who was dressed in a black cloak, wielding a small katana, was rushing toward him. "Foolish, soultrice, do you really think you can stop me, with such a pathetic sword."

He swung one of his monstrous hands down, and slamming it into the girl, who was now flying backwards, at several hundred miles an hour.

"HEY!" yelled Ryan, as he suddenly broke the spell, a burning sensation filling through out his body, as he tried to save Karyn, and this new girl, his eyes were changing, the vision, was growing more clear and more vivid, the darkness, was now pounding down onto the streets, his body was shaking cold, something was changing, his pulse was quickening again, faster and faster, until the pain couldn't be held inside of him anymore, and he let everything out in a massive yell, which struck out to everything, power rushing through his veins, his eyes began to change, the solid blue color, was now a deep piercing gray, everything was turning a vivid, all the colors drained from his vision, the image growing sharper and more clearer, the image was now a deep black and white, almost a grayish tint, the image so crisp, and vivid, he could probably see anything even if the sun wasn't out.

"I-I-Incredible!" yelled the cloaked figure, who Ryan soon realized was Eris, her pink hair, was in a frizzle mess, her green eyes, were a piercing gray, and they seemed to hold a serious and expressive tint. "W-Who are you!?' she murmured, as Ryan didn't seem to notice, he was still trying to maintain this new power, though it still wasn't fully developed.

"So the reason, why my spirit communicator, and my senses were all messed up, was because of that massive energy force, he had stored up, that girl, probably has one too, people who often live in close contact with those, who have a large amount of spiritual awareness, are often affected, though for him to have so much, to give that girl enough energy..." she whispered, and suddenly looked over at Ryan, who was now on his hands and knees looking up desperately, trying to find some kind of battle plan to save Karyn.

"Hey, Ryan, do you want to save her?" asked Eris, as she looked over at him, and stared over at him, as though in anticipation, she looked over at him, her eyes shining a deep emerald, her hair glowing a deep pink, and even though she was sitting their in blood, Ryan couldn't help, but feel his cheeks turn a deep shape of red, she was still so pretty, even if she was wielding a deadly weapon.

Without warning, Eris stood up, and pulled him into a kiss,suddenly their lips met, Ryan's eyes opened in surprised, his whole face was turning a deep red, though he felt a weird sensation flowing through without him, and suddenly his eyes closed, though they popped open, as he heard a voice calling from the top of the hill.

"RYAN!" yelled Serene, as she stood their out of breathe, she looked over at Ryan, who was standing their making out with the new girl, "R-Ryan!" she exclaimed, she didn't realize it though her face was a deep red, and her body was shaking, tears streaming down her eyes, though she didn't know why, she already had a boy friend, so why was this such a shock or a blow to her.

Suddenly Ryan, felt something kick his chest, and he found himself flying across the street, but not in his normal clothes, no he was now standing in a black cloak, a large blade strapped across the back of his cloak, it was massive in size, about a good four feet long, and five inches was the width of the blade, though it was so light, that he probably could easily fight with it, it was so balanced.

Ryan looked up at the monster, and charged head on, not knowing why he felt the sudden urge to fight, though he wasn't going to go down without a fight, he had always been called stubborn, by his dad. He suddenly felt something hit him square in the jaw, it was a large claw, which scratched his face, causing blood to leak from it, making him gag, at the smell, and he could feel it sting and burn, as he jumped through the wind. He dodged the quick punch, which the monster had thrown at him. He fell back, and skidded across the road, and felt his back being cut, by the sharp gravel, which was with the crushed road, where the monster was standing. With a desperate attempt, he ran up, straight foward, and stabbed the monster in the head, and hoped that it would be destroyed, unsure if he would survive or not. He watched as the monster's remains despersed, into a black sandish material, being carried by the wind, he looked down at the ground, no blood or anything remaining, it was gone and at the end, the only remains of the monster their, was a swipe at his leg, which he had nearly dodged, he caught his sister, unsure if she could see him or not, everything was so weird. He looked down at his sister, who seemed to not really realized, she was safe from harms way. She looked over at Ryan's body, which was laying in Eris's arms, as she looked over at him, her eyes full of shock, and wonder, looking at him as though maybe he were an angel or something, that was carrying her to safety, though Ryan didn't seem to have that same thought going through his head, he had just killed a monster, barely and survived. He set her down gently, into Eris's arms.

Ryan, looked over at his house, most of it was completely destroyed, he wondered what his dad, would say, when he got home from work, maybe he wouldn't notice, _Yeah right, theirs a giant gap in the house..._ Suddenly he felt something overtake him, a strong sense, a foul smell of liquid, and he fell to his knees, coughing, and trying to get some kind of clean air in his lungs, though he couldn't think straight.


	3. Job of a Soulter

**Chapter Three**

**The Job Of A Soulter**

Ryan awoke in the hospital, breathing heavily, unsure what was going on, he looked down at himself, and realized he was wearing a hospital gown, and that his weapon was completely gone, he looked across the room, and looked over at Serene, and Drew, who were talking about something, though the sound was muffled, through the ringing through his ears. He looked over toward the other bed, and saw his sister. He stared over at her, his body started shaking, and his eyes widened in horror, as he saw that she was intensive care, her wounds were large across her face, and it almost looked disfigured. He began to cry, hot tears, running down his face, he slammed his fist into the bed, and felt himself lose all sense of breathe, he looked over, and looked at his pulse, which was barely beating, he couldn't move, he looked down, and realized he was wearing an oxygen mask.He was in worst condition, than his sister, but how, he won the battle didn't he? He felt a stinging feeling, flowing through his back, a deep bit of blood was flowing down his back.

Suddenly the door opened, and a girl, with pink hair, a shimmering green eyes, that looked so beautiful, were staring at him, though they held small droplets of tears, like it was all her fault, that he ended up like this. He sat up, and stared over at Serene, who's attention, had completely dispersed from Drew, and she looked as though she was jealous at Eris, as though Ryan wasn't even in the room, paying no attention to him what's so ever. Serene and Ryan's eyes met, and without warning Serene started crying, a little bit, though he couldn't do anything, and he knew it. He merely looked up at the ceiling, his mind still blank, and his body still stinging with a large amount of pain.

Eris walked over toward Ryan, and held him in her arms. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of got you involved." said Eris, as she sat down in her seat, and looking over at Ryan, who was seeming to being so hurt.

"What happened, to me, how did I end up like this, what was with that monster, did I dream it?" he whispered, looking over at Eris, who seemed to be lost in thought, as though worried about something, though she didn't seem to notice.

"After the battle, you passed out, another monster came, and well your sister, and you got hurt a lot, probably, because your spirit energies, are so high, their massive, and their is also someone else, it didn't seem to be like that at first, but it seems that she has a large amount of spiritual presence, locked up inside of her, it happens, in emotional states, like right now it's ecstatic, though I'm not sure why..." she said, as she looked over at Ryan, who's eyes widened, and even seemed to show disbelief.

"I don't believe you, and even if it were true, who's the other girl?" asked Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, and still wanted to know so much, suddenly something sparked his attention, a deep power shaking through out him, he even felt kind of sick. Suddenly he heard a yell, a fierce painful yell, from a child. Without warning Ryan, got up, and started running toward the child.

"Where are you going!?" exclaimed Serene, and Eris, as they watched Ryan, get up, Drew looked up, not really interested, though his eyes flashed with a tiny light of lure, within Ryan getting up, and it also held a spark of rivalry, and anger.

"I'm going to save that kid!" yelled Ryan, as he snapped all the stuff off of body, unsure what he was doing, he knew he had to save that kid, that monster was going to kill him, and he was the only one who could save him. "I'm not going to let anyone die, from anything again... Its my fault!" whispered Ryan, as he jumped out of the window, suddenly he felt a cold feeling cover his body, and suddenly everything went dark around him for a split second, his pace nearly stopped, he was floating in mid air, suddenly reality faded back toward him, and he realized he was lying on the ground, he was bleeding, and he couldn't breathe. He looked up, and realized he had been on the thirteenth floor of the hospital, which was at least, near the ceiling of the hospital, surprisingly he wasn't dead. "Everything hurts!" yelled Ryan, fiercely, as pain filled his body, stinging and numbness took over him, and he yelled out fiercely in pain, as though losing all thoughts through his mind. He realized that all his ribs were broken, and that one of his lungs was bleeding badly. It was actually punctured, and was now feeling wet and sloppy.

"Crud, am I dieing, everything hurts..." whispered Ryan, as he sat up, and stood up, suddenly Eris rushed to his side, and without thought, she punched him hard in the gut.

"YOU IDIOT, what the heck, were you thinking, you just jumped from about the ceiling, of the twentieth floor!" yelled Eris, as she didn't really seemed to worried about his safety. She suddenly looked through her purse, and pulled out a small piece of candy, without warning, she slammed her fist into his stomach, causing him to burst out yelling with pain. Several people, were starting to stare, at the strong looking fourteen year old fit boy, getting beat up, by a girl, who was dressed as though she was meant for royalty status. She muttered something under her breathe, which sounded like a curse word, but it was in a different language, though at first it was cloudy, but it was also clear at the same time.

"You could be a bit more-" Ryan was interrupted with her forcing a hard gum ball down his throat. He suddenly turned over and vomited, though the gum ball thing, had already started taking effect, and he felt a warmness, spreading through out his entire body. He felt all his wounds instantly heal, and within a matter of seconds he was standing up, as though nothing had happened. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing, wait where are you going?" yelled Eris, as Ryan ran off, and started heading toward the screams, unsure what he was going to do.

_**You can make things right...**_

_**God has given you another chance...**_

"If it isn't a Soulter!" yelled the creature, who had suddenly appeared Ryan, Ryan turned around, and looked over at him, without warning fear spread through out his body, like an unwanted virus, causing him to shake, and become stiff. He began to gag, wildly, unsure what to do next.

He looked up, and without realizing it he was flying across the ground, flying in the air, he looked down at his leg, which was completely scratched up, he didn't know what to do, his body was still stiff and cold. As he laid their looking up the ground,

"At least I'm not running..." he told himself, as he tried to get up, though he couldn't. He cried out in pain, as a burning feeling surged through his leg, that scratch wasn't anything normal, it was hurting badly. Suddenly smoke arisen from his leg, causing him to scream in pain.

"I'm fine..." he whispered, as he felt something happening, the same burning sensation going throughout his body. His eyes widened with fear and panic, as he turned around, and suddenly dodged the hit, something pulling at him, with a massive force. He fell backwards, he suddenly saw himself lying down on the ground.

"What's going on..." he whispered, as he looked down at himself, and realized he was wearing a black cloak, the same large blade was strapped to his back, his shoes were now different, and they seemed to be made out of leather, no, they were sandals, they felt so light and comfortable.

"How did I get this way..." He suddenly saw the large monster's foot, about to slam down on his body, he rushed toward his body, and without thinking, he slammed his sword into the monster's foot.

"OW!" yelled the monster, as he fell backwards, and dropped the small boy, who he once had in his hand. Ryan swiftly moved, and caught him, and put him down to safety.

The small boy, looked to be about Karyn's age, a bit younger, his eyes were closed, and his body looked to be beaten and scratched up, his shirt was also tattered, Ryan placed his body down beside the kids. The kids hair was brown, his skin was kind of pale, and even transparent, he seemed to be looking kind of sick. On the center of his chest, was a hole, which the chain seemed to be torn.

Ryan suddenly felt a large force, hit him in the side, he skidded across the ground, his feet, and legs went flying, as he slammed into a pole. He looked up dazed and confused, though he felt sick, he soon got up, and charged toward the beast. His pulse radiating, with each step he took, he suddenly stood in front of the monster, and realized his sword had slid across the road, sparks had flown, and the dead grass, caused by the drought, which had been in New York, took light, and the grass soon burst into flames. Ryan jumped in shock, and suddenly went to slash at the monster, though he couldn't even move, he slid back, and fell onto the grass, as the flames rose, and began to burn his cloak.

"What the heck, I thought... that ghost couldn't burn, oh crap this hurts!" yelled Ryan, as he began to stop drop and roll. "This sucks!" yelled Ryan, as his cloak, began to regenerate, though his burnt skin, didn't seem to heal. He stood up, and looked over at Eris, who ran over toward her.

"Ryan?" she asked, as she looked over at him, and frowned, "be careful idiot, you're not a ghost, you're a soulter, big difference, ghost can still get hurt, but they don't have many spirit particles, as Soulter's. I gave you my powers, so please, don't fight irrationally."

Ryan was about to charge again, when Eris stopped him. "You can't." said Eris, briefly, holding a strong grip on Ryan, which caused him to become instantly stopped.

"Why can't I?!" yelled Ryan, as he looked over at the monster, who had picked up the kid, again, and looked as though he was going to eat him.

"You Can't!"

"I have to!"

"You have to make a promise first!"

"I don't have time to do that, just let me save the kid!" snapped Ryan, angrily, as he glared over at Eris, not sure what else to say to her.

"Not, until you make a promise, to save everyone, their are two jobs for a Soulter, they are to extinguish all the demons, and the second thing is to help any trapped spirits, who cannot move on. " said Eris, as she looked over at him, her eyes weren't kidding, they seemed to lock onto his, and they showed no sense of humor, they were dead serious, and cold. The princess, who seemed to be once so beautiful and caring, looked so vicious and cruel, that it sent shivers down his spine.

"I can't, I just don't think I'm that type of person, who is so noble, as to risk my own life, for others." said Ryan, as he shoved her out of his way, and sliced the monstrous being in half, before the monster could eat the kid.

"Now what?" asked Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, wondering if she would give him the answer on how to get the kid to move on to the other side. "When I do this, am I sending this here kid to heaven?" asked Ryan, as he looked over at her a bit shocked.

"Lets see, well yes I supposed that's what you can call it heaven." said Eris, as though she's been there before. "Though, its not really heaven, its more of a waiting line, which you have to wait to go to the clouds, you're usually only there for a few seconds, unless there are a large amounts of deaths." said Eris, as she looked over at Ryan, who was still debating this fact.

"Okay, fine I promise, just lets hurry, and get this over with." said Ryan, with his fingers crossed, he than looked over at Eris, who was explaining everything and the incantation.

"okay... Gates of Heaven, open for thee, let this soul pass peacefully, let the soul be reborn, and join its family which is now torn." suddenly he slammed the hilt of his blade on the kid's chest, and watched as he dispersed, in a golden light. Ryan looked up and stared up at the sky, as little balls of light were now floating away. Suddenly the kid, who was glowing disappeared, and everything was blinded in a piercing white light.

"That was beautiful..." said Eris, as she looked over at him, who was still shaking in disbelief, at what was happening.

"What-What am I!?" he yelled out, as he looked over at Eris, intensively, he grabbed her, and threw her to the ground. She looked up in surprise, her eyes full of sorrow, and she seemed to wonder what was going on with him. "What are you!?" he yelled, as he held the blade to her throat, though without warning it dissolved in a silver light, and he felt some kind of gravitational pulling, suddenly he awoke in the same hospital room again.

"My body is so sore..." he muttered under his breathe, as he looked up at the ceiling, and looked over at Serene, who was talking over toward Drew, who still just gave a slight smirk, amused, though he seemed a bit distracted at the moment, by Serene, who was clinging toward Drew, who kept trying to almost seeming to push her away.

Though his vision was blurred, and everything seemed even more cloudy than the hallucinations. He than felt something grip on to him, he looked over and realized it was his sister.

"H-H-Hey..." he whispered lightly, as he gave a slight smile, and didn't say anything else. "What's been going on, anyway?" he whispered lightly, with a chuckle.

"A-A-Are you okay?" she asked, as she looked over at him, her eyes were a whispery gray, and she looked as though she was about to cry.

Suddenly the door burst open, and out popped Ryan's dad, who gave a slight smirk, and looked over at him, with a large grin. "Ah, if it isn't my son, who obviously got beaten up in a gang fight, ah I knew he'd turn into a criminal I-"

Ryan jumped up, "Criminal what are you talking about!" exclaimed Ryan, as he sat up, and looked over at his dad, he leaned over toward him.

He stared over him, a blue bandanna, around his neck, "Can I join?" he whispered, with a cackle of laughter.

Ryan's left eye began to twitch, "No wonder, I jumped out the building, and have hallucinations." whispered Ryan, under his breathe. "How are you a doctor anyway!" yelled Ryan, as he began to glare at his dad, who than gave him a quick glare as well, both glaring at each other.

"Under my playful dad exterior, beats the heart of a medical genius!" yelled Ryan's dad, with a smirk, as he looked over at him, and gave him a thumbs up, and gave a smirk, he than showed his teeth grinning, Ryan than watched as he did the little sparkle effect, by taking a mirror, and shining it against his teeth.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" said Ryan's dad, as he watched Ryan, look over at his bandages, "Your trust worthy dad, completed your operation, man it was something, you were bleeding a lot and-"

"You're kidding!" yelled Ryan, as he looked down at his arm, nervously, as he thought that his arm was about to explode. He closed his eyes nervously, and felt that he was about to die, of some massive explosion, or something. He felt beads of sweat running down his face.

Ryan suddenly fell back against his pillow, and thoughts began to prowl his mind, he looked back over at his dad, who was staring at the mirror.

Ryan's dad, was very tall, and he seemed to be a lot more athletic than him, their was a scar, across his right eye, he got it when he was twelve, and his friend, had nearly been hit by a car, and he saved him. Ryan didn't know much about his father's past, since he never spoke of it. Ryan's dad usually wore his white lab coat, since he was usually in the hospital, which he had founded, a long time ago, before his mother had died. His hair was a jet black, and his eyes, were a deep puddles of azure blue, which seemed to be longing and caring, though holding a strict, and unpleasant look into them

"Well, its late, I guess we'll seeya." said Ryan's dad, as he looked over at the clock, which read eleven PM. "Karyn, you've got to get ready for school, and everything tomorrow, I can't have my youngest and brightest child, having one B on her report card." he said,as he escorted her out the way.

"Hey, Serene, come on, your father will get upset if you don't hurry up, and leave." he said smirking, as he looked over at her, and met Drew's gaze, and Ryan swore he saw a scowl, across his father's face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Mr.Alexander." said Serene, with a smirk,as she looked over at him, and not saying anything else. She just looked over at him, and than stood up, grabbed her book bag, and walked out of the room. Drew suddenly got up, and followed her out.

"I'll walk you out!" called Drew, as he began to follow her, but before he did, he turned his attention toward Eris, and gave a sinister smile.

Eris looked over at Drew, her eyes a bit curious, she looked over at Ryan, and than looked over at him, She than looked out the window, and closed her eyes gently, and than a few moments later, she walked back inside. "Idiot..." she muttered, as she looked over at him.

Ryan sat up, and gazed over at her, "Why do you keep following me..." he whispered, as he looked over at her, his eyes widened with a slight look of fear. Suddenly he winced in pain, as he looked over at her.

"Well, you've taken all my powers, so I can't finish my mission, so I need you to complete it for me, until I can regain my powers, your just going to be a substitute, until I can get better." said Eris, as she looked over at Ryan.

"but, why were you assigned to this city, what's your mission!?" yelled Ryan,outraged, he didn't want to take a part in this stupid mission, he just wanted to save his sister. "My dad thinks I'm in some kind of gang, because of you!" exclaimed Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, who didn't really seem to be paying attention.

"This city, seemed to be mostly feeling with Ouls, monsters, spirits, who have had a hard time in their lives, if the spirits don't pass on they begin to get depressed, and will turn themselves into Ouls, or be caught by one." said Eris, as she looked over at him.

"It's a Soulter's job, to extinguish Ouls, as you know, and pass the spirits on to the other side" said Eris, as she looked over at him, and smirked. "You're so stupid, jumping from a building..." she said, shaking her head. "Its a wonder you make straight As" she said, as she pulled out his report card, and read his grades out loud. "Hundred percent for everything, I'm guessing this is good?" she whispered, as she looked over at him.

"Okay..." whispered Ryan, as he looked over at her, but what attracts this Oul thing,,,: whispered Ryan, "What causes so many to be in this small city?" she whispered, as she looked over at Eris, who gave a smirk.

"Well, I guess, the person, who is endangering everyone in the whole city, is probably the smartest person, in the city..." she whispered, as she looked over at him, and smiled.

"Who is, it, cause I'll beat them to a pulp, and cause him to leave the city in a heart beat." said Ryan tried to stand up, but realized his legs were taped to the bed. "I bet my dad did this, help me get this off!" yelled Ryan, as he looked over at Eris.

"I can't your body, and soul, hasn't fully recovered from the beating, whatever happens to your soul, is linked by a chain, and it effects the body, not only physically, but mentally, so you won't be able to fight that well." said Eris, as she looked over at him. "Also, the person, who is endangering the city is you."

"M-Me!?" exclaimed Ryan, shocked, as this time, he sat up, and felt a surge of rage, fill him, he ripped the tape off the bed, and fell to the floor, and streamed in pain, as the Iv, ripped from his skin. "Why is it me!" he yelled, at her.

Eris, suddenly kicked him in the stomach, as hard as she could and watched as Ryan, passed out, "Idiot..." she whispered, as she set him back in the bed, and gave a sigh, realizing the binding spell would be useless, since he'd already broken it before. She than decided to try this tape thing, his father had used.

Light shown through the window, Ryan sat up, and looked over toward Eris, who was reading a book, Ryan's dad walked in, and sat down beside Eris."Ah, I don't believe I've seen you before, are you Ryan's girl friend?" asked Mr.Alexander, as he stared over at Eris, with a bit of laughter. "I see my son, has finally grown up a little."

"What are you talking about she was here-" Ryan suddenly stopped, as Eris gave him a major death stare. "Oh, yeah, she's my girl friend, she couldn't come and visit yesterday, because she had so much homework..." said Ryan, as he nodded his head, with a grin.

"Okay..." whispered Mr.Alexander, as he walked out of the room, "I'll leave you, two alone, for some privacy, I guess." said Mr.Alexander, as he shut the door behind him.

"D-Dad, what are you doing?" asked Karyn, as she looked over at Mr.Alexander, who was leaning in on the door, trying to eavesdrop apparently.

"Shhhh" he whispered, silently, as he leaned against the door, and trying to hear.

"I thought these doors, were sound proof." said Karyn, as she looked over at her dad, who gave a slight grin, and another thumbs up.

"Good observation, my young detective, these rooms are all sound proof, except this one right here, this one is personally reserved for my son." he said, with a cackled of laughter.

"Dad, I heard you, now shut up!" yelled Ryan,as he threw a pillow toward the door, as it opened, and hit his dad in the face. Mr.Alexander, slid into the wall, one of the nurses, rolled her eyes, and continued to walk off.

"What was with the death glare..." whispered Ryan, as he looked over toward Eris, who seemed distracted, she gave a slight giggle.

"Oh, you idiot, spirits can't be seen, so he couldn't see me, yesterday, when I was here, did you not realize that he hadn't even made a notice of me, at all." whispered Eris, as she looked over at Ryan.

"Than, how come, you could interact with stuff, and how come I could see you." whispered Ryan, "I thought spirits could walk through stuff, and such." said Ryan, as he looked over at her.

Eris, smiled, and grinned, "because you have a high amount of spirit energy, and its radiating through out the room,causing things to be solid, to spirits, and not only that, spirits like me, also can interact with stuff." said Eris, with a grin.

"Here's another question, how come he can see you know?" whispered Ryan, as he looked over toward her, his eyes still angry, and subtle.

"Simple, this is an artificial body, we spirits use it, when we travel to the human world, that way if ever needed, we can return to them, that way, we can spy on anybody necessary. I'm actually 1,500 years old, but divide that by a hundred, and I'm fifth teen, I'm a hundred times older than you, so I have a lot more experience." said Eris, as she looked over at him.

"So you're an old granny, that acts like a child, or are you a brat, who acts like she's an old granny." added Ryan, as he looked over at her, and suddenly felt a kick across his face.

"I'm fifth teen, my appearance, is also fifth teen" said Eris, "though my experience is fifth teen thousand." said Eris, feeling offended, and angry, she gave him a death cold glare.

"Okay, you're fifth-teen!": yelled Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, who was glaring at him, suddenly a cell phone began to ring, and without even thinking Ryan suddenly felt a weird feeling surge through out him.

"I'm back in my black cloak." said Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, "Hey, how come, when your out of your spiritual form, you don't have a black cloak like me." asked Ryan, as he looked over at her.

"Sadly, I don't have a spiritual form anymore, I'm stuck, in this artificial body, its been weird, I picked it up from someone, and now I'm stuck in it." she whispered, angrily, under her breathe, rolling her eyes.

"No time, let's go!" yelled Serene, as she pulled Ryan, out the window.

"Hey, wait now, I've already tried this once-AH!" yelled Ryan, as he closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he realized he was standing on the ground. Eris looking over at him, strangely, a giggle across her face, though her eyes showed a bit of annoyance.

"Let's go!" she pulled him away, "Hey, how come I never see your mother!" she asked, as she began running at a fast pace, though she looked extremely tired. "Darn, these lungs are so compact, and tightening. R-R-Ryan!?" she called as she turned around at Ryan, who was standing there, hiding his face.

Ryan stopped the moment the words escaped from her lips, the images all forming were blood thirsty, and cold, everything was so quickly surrounding him, his soul was frozen, and he felt ice cold. He began to shake, he looked up over at Serene, and didn't say anything. He couldn't hold a smile, what happened was strange. "Shut up!" yelled Ryan, though, he quickly rushed off in the directions of the explosions, and screams of the civilians, who had no earthly idea, what was going on.

The monster looked down at Ryan, it's yellow eyes scanning him, as though he were nothing, but a mere snack. "If it isn't one of those, Soulter's, charging straight up to me like that, was not such a great idea!" yelled the monster, as he suddenly turned completely invisible.

Ryan watched his movements, though the once vivid monster, was now as blank, and wasn't even cloudy, it was not even there. It was completely gone, his heart rate began to increase, he had no clue what to do.

Ryan jumped back, as the invisible fist slammed into the earth, several chunks of rock hitting him, there was no way, his moves were also completely silent. He slashed at the destroyed rubble, but found nothing, but air that he was slashing at. Suddenly he felt a massive force, slam into his back. "What the-" yelled Ryan, as he flew across the ground, he stood up, his breathe was short, and his vision was completely blurry. "Okay, this sucks..." he muttered, as he fell to his knees again, unsure what was going on, everything was so cold.

"Ryan!" yelled Eris, as she ran over toward him, she tried to pull him up, but, suddenly she was struck in the back. She cried out in pain, as she slammed into the rubble, she managed to stand up, though she realized she was bleeding pretty badly.

"Don't get involved." whispered Ryan, as he stood up, and tried to stand, though he felt his hand empty, the sword had completely vanished. "Where's my sword, crud!" yelled Ryan, as he felt the massive fist slammed into his whole body. He heard something crack, he flew backwards and landed inside the wall. He heard another cracking noise. He landed onto the cloud, he felt himself bleeding, he felt an immense pain,

Eris stumbled over toward him, and shoved another gum ball down his throat. "You idiot, you keep eating these stupid things, your human soul is going to decay." yelled Eris, as she watched as Ryan's wounds healed quickly.

"This burns..." he muttered ,as he stood up, and felt everything healing so quickly, he stumbled over toward the brick wall, which was now partially destroyed, he pulled out his blade from the ground. "Okay, now I'm ticked off!" yelled Ryan, as he dashed forward, only to be shoved back, but this time, he was ready for it, and jumped up in midair, and stabbed the ground, hitting the monster, as the invisibility began to wear off, he made out the monster's face, which had a skeletal appearance, it's eyes a deep dark black, as dark as night, and in the center, was a red piercing light. Suddenly the monster disappeared in a black sand, leaving nothing, but bones, and stains of blood, and there injuries.

"So I guess, everything is finally solved idiot!" she whispered, as she walked over toward Ryan, who had fallen to the ground, and was now unconscious.

Ryan woke up in the hospital, and looked over at Eris, it was mid-night and no one seemed to be their, the room was empty, and he was once in the hospital again, which was really starting to tick him off, cause he hated hospitals, they always freaked him out, despite the fact that, if he lived closed to a hospital, and he was the heir of this one anyway. "Can I ask you some questions?" asked Ryan, as he looked up at Eris, who turned her head lightly, and gave him her full attention, sadness seemed to be drifted into her eyes, though it vanished, and a blank stare filled them.

"Yeah, go ahead, ask anything..." said Eris, as she looked over a Ryan, sympathetically, "Ryan I'm sorry, I got you in this mess... its all my fault if I'd just been better... if I'd just been stronger than..."

"Don't be, its not your fault, you saved my life, you saved my family's life, I have nothing else to give than my eternal gratitude, Though I just have to ask, how come people can't see us, I mean normal humans." said Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, who's eyes sparked with amusement, as she looked over at Ryan.

"Its because of the Misma, you know the black liquid that rains from the sky, usually its a mist, and it keeps the human eyes covered, though if they are a large amount of spirit particles than the mist, turns into clouds, and it begins to rain..." said Eris, with a smile. "Humans, see it as a black liquid, but they call it acid rain, and its used to protect the underground society, though humans call it Magma, and they see it as a flaming red liquid, that creates islands, and such but that's all just is because of the spirit particles, which can form islands, its almost like a source of nature, if you will." said Eris, as she looked up at Ryan, who seemed to understand, but was kind of lost at the same time. 'If that confuses you, imagine how we Soulter's feel, when you start calling the Misma, or "Magma" lave, that's weird to us, its magma, or misma either way you look at it." said Serene, as she looks over at Ryan.

Ryan shrugged, he always thought science didn't make any sense anyway, but this whole spirit particle thing, made less sense than the weird theorems and stories of evolution, and the earth's beginning. "Frankly, I found all of that more confusing, but anyway, I'm just going to call the Misma, a black liquid, instead of giving it that totally stupid name." said Ryan, as he tried to sit up, but found himself paralyzed to the seating arrangement.

Suddenly the door opened, and Ryan's dad walked in, "Good news Ryan, you'll be able to go to the memorial tomorrow, it seems you miraculously made a full recovery, I guess your old man really is an awesome medical genius huh?" said Mr.Alexander with a large grin, as he walked off, whistling a tune.


	4. Alexandrian Memorial

**Chapter Four**

**The Alexander Memorial**

"Where's Ryan?" whispered Eris, as she sat down beside Serene, and looked over at Serene, who wasn't really paying attention, her mind seemed to be blank, and distracted, she gazed out at the rising sun, which held above the clouds, above the small city buildings, she gave a sigh, and than only noticed that Eris was talking to her.

"Oh you don't know..." she mumbled irritably, as she seemed to hold a bit of bitterness toward Eris, as she looked over at her, Eris just smiled blankly, and didn't seem to really notice, that was she was upset.

"Oh, well if you could ever be so kind to tell me." she said, as she looked over at Serene, who seemed to be yet again distracted. "Is it something personal?" she whispered, as she took a gaze around the classroom. Mr.Millstrum, was talking randomly, about some kind of mathematical equation.

"Yeah, but why do you care?" snapped Serene, as she gave a glaring look at Eris, "What did he not tell you, I mean you think who would tell something like that to his girl friend." exclaimed Serene.

"Who me, No I'm just his um... friend that's it." said Eris, as she looked a bit nervous, and a bit shocked and panicked at the same time. "Are you his girl friend?" she asked, as she looked over at Serene curiously.

Her face turned a deep red, and shock covered her whole entire expression, "M-Me no, were just best friends, I already have a boy friend.." she managed to stumble out. She than glanced toward Drew, who was eying Serene, and Eris, with a devious grin across his face, as though planning something evil.

"Well I got to go!" exclaimed Eris, as she stood up, and rushed toward the door, Serene waited for her to leave, and she looked over at Mr.Millstrum, and snuck out of the class. Mr.Millstrum, didn't seem to notice, he continued rambling on about the math.

Ryan looked over at his dad, he was straggling behind, carrying a large basket, which held a picnic inside, he gave a sigh, and looked up at Karyn, and his dad who were talking about something.

"This stinks..." he muttered, as he looked over at his dad, and sister, who were whispering, about him, he suddenly heard a voice, call out to him.

"Ryan!" called Eris, who was on top of the hill, waving and smiling, as though today was any other day, as though today a murder didn't take place, as though, he wasn't the one who had done something so wrong, so vile. He looked up at Eris, and suddenly gave a shocked expression.

"Who is that!?" asked Mr.Alexander, as he looked over at Ryan, with a sheepish smile, "Is that your girl friend, Of course you could always stay with her, but I didn't think you'd be so self absorbed to invite her, onto your mother's day." said Mr.Alexander, "Though I guess... your mother wouldn't mind it."

"What!, I didn't invite her!" stammered, Ryan, as he rushed up the hill, to try and greet her, though he only caught a second glimpse.

"What are you doing here!?" yelled Ryan, furiously, his eyes were gleaming with rage, his fists were trembling, and everything was so quiet, besides his fierce force, which echoed through out the trees.

"Don't yell at me!" snapped Eris, as she gave a swift kick, Ryan suddenly felt it hit him in the side, not prepared for that attack, he hit the tree. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing, but I didn't invite you here, how did you know where I was, did you use some type of magic or something." whispered Ryan, as he was tempted to do an attack of his own.

"No, I followed that girl down here." whispered Serene, under her breathe, as she made a note to Serene, she gave a slight gesture, toward her.

"Yeah, well why is she down here anyway." muttered Ryan, "She knows that this is a family matter." whispered Ryan, as he glared over toward Serene, hoping that she saw how angry he was.

"Family matter, what happened..." whispered Eris, as she looked over at Ryan, and gave a sympathetic look, "You can tell me."

"Its nothing, today is just the day my mother died and-" Ryan was suddenly interrupted by Eris, who seemed to of given a slight bit excited screech.

"It makes sense!" she exclaimed, as she looked over at Ryan, "I think I've figured it out, Ryan, was your mother killed, by an Oul!?" asked Eris, "Think about it, you said, you could see cloudy figures every since you were seven, and not only that-"

"Shut up!" yelled Ryan, as he managed to slap her across the face. "Shut up! What would you know, you know nothing, why is everything always an Oul with you!" "She wasn't killed by a hollow, every since I got involved with you, it's Oul this and Oul that..."

"It's already bad enough, that I've been forced to exterminate these vile, disgusting creatures, but sorry it wasn't a hollow." yelled Ryan, fiercely.

"You're so naive...!" yelled Serene, as she looked over at Eris, who's facial expression didn't change, she merely looked over at her, and didn't say a word."Do you not know, what Ryan has been through..." she hissed angrily, tears were streaming down her eyes, she looked angry, and as though she was going to hit her.

"Partially, I guess I don't." said Eris, as she looked over at Serene, her eyes full of wonder, though her expression did not change. "What happened when his mother died?" she whispered, calmly, not affected by the screaming or emotions alloted by anyone.

"His mother died, when he was eight, six years ago, his mother died, the kid, that I once called my best friend died as well, I never knew my mother... so I thought I was the only one, who could understand Ryan, though I figured out I had no clue what he had went through. To lose someone, and have a bond with this is so much more painful, than knowing nothing about them, and losing them." said Serene, as a memory filled her mind, creeping back into her.

"The place where, she died... he kept going there, he skipped school, he'd go near the park, this park in fact, where his mother died was right here, and everyday who would wander this park, as though searching for his mother, as though trying to find her, as though he could see ghosts or something..." whispered Serene, in deep thought, as she looked over at him. "I-" suddenly Serene was lifted off the ground, gripping at her throat, as though something was chocking her.

Eris stared up in horror, her cell phone began to ring, as it began to shake, and ring constantly, as though it was about to explode, she soon took it out, and flipped it open. "There's a hollow near by... that must be what's grabbing-" She suddenly felt something grab her neck.

Ryan ran off, and all the sudden, the moment he stepped out, a black thick rain began to pour down, the clouds began to cover the once peaceful and serene sky, it was now darkened, and covered with fear.It began to pour down, causing large puddles of the black liquid to nearly destroy everything. Their was no light excluding from the sky, though everyone seemed to walk around as though nothing was going on, as though everything was the same, as though nothing strange or untypical was happening, as though this black rain were normal.

The area around the park, the lush green grass, was now damp, and seemed to almost crystallize, and turn a deep blackish gray color, as the black liquid hit it, the trees turned a sickish yellow color, and began to limp. The water was now flooding with a black liquid, and the stench around the place seemed to smell of acid, and death, and blood.

"What's going on!" yelled Ryan, as his skin began to burn immensely, "Crud!" yelled Ryan, as he fell to the ground, but he couldn't breathe, everything was so exasperating, something was so strong, and so massive.

Ryan rolled over on his back, and without warning, he heard something ringing in his ears, what was it? He couldn't think straight, he managed to stand up, only to fall back down again, in this strong weird black liquid. "Man, I can't get up..." whispered Ryan, suddenly he felt a pulsing through his body, as he suddenly felt something strike at him in the back, the moment this happened, he was flying through the air, in his black cloak, the sword within his hand. He managed to stop himself, by stabbing his blade in the wet, liquid earth, though the moment he did it, he realized that it was a horrible mistake. He watched in horror, as his blade was being sucked up by the ground.

Ryan jerked his blade out the rain pouring down on him, his breathe was a still, "This sucks..." yelled Ryan, as he jumped back, his blade was completely covered in this black liquid. He jumped up in the sky, as he began to sink lower, his body was now completely scratched up from the impact. His hands bleeding from having to pull the blade out from the destroying earth, beneath him. "What was that..." yelled Ryan.

Every time he stepped on a piece of ground, the ground would start to cave in, and be swallowed up in pools of what looked like ponds of black liquid, seeming to suck up everything in its pack from the ground to whole buildings, the black liquid seemed to have no end, in its powerful destructive powers.

He managed to land on the ground near the memorial, he looked up at the monster, both Eris, and Serene were admist its grasp, being crushed beneath its hands. "Let go of them!" yelled Ryan, as he began to charge toward the monster, when all the sudden, something appeared in front of him. That made him stop instantly, his body was no longer in a fighting stance, and everything was sore and numb. He looked at the figure, as horror, and shock, and a terrible fit of rage filled him.

In front of him, was Ryan's mother, her hair was a deep black, her eyes a piercing emerald, she was wearing the exact dress the day that she died.

"W-W-W-What's going on!" yelled Ryan, as he realized that his mother was there, he was shaking so coldly, so fearfully.

"Ah, so it is you, the one, who's mother tasted so sweet, I remember that petrified face of yours, and you still have it..." said an ominous voice. "I thank you, for having such a strong energy force... condensed and coincided like that, it led me straight to such a beautiful and tasty snack." said the beast out loud, with a large amount of laughter. Suddenly something struck him from behind, Ryan wasn't able to dodge it, and instead flew up and skidded in the muddy dirt and felt as large amounts of black liquid started pulling him back under the earth.

"Shut up!" yelled Ryan, as he managed to pull his blade out, his back had a deep wound ,and his hands were bleeding, and already had blisters from where he had pulled his blade so many times. Ryan charged toward the monster, and tried to attack, but was merely swatted away, by one of his large arms. " Ryan managed to get slammed into a tree.

Ryan lied there, a memory coming back to him, as he looked up at the Oul, this incredible monstrous beast, that had killed his mother, that had torn his family apart, that had ruined his life, that had taken everything his family had known and love, was standing right here. He watched as the monster dropped Serene, and Eris, though than he noticed something, that made him even more angrier, he had his sister.

"You're going to die!" yelled Ryan, as he charged toward the monster, he swung his blade, in a slash.

"Charging into your opponent's range, without having a plan so foolish!" yelled the monster, as he stabbed Ryan in the stomach, causing him to throw up.

Ryan was knocked back this time, unable to move, unable to save his sister, and also unable to save his mother... The memory drifted into his mind, as he lie their helpless, helpless to everyone, he couldn't save anybody, damn it he couldn't even save himself.

_**He looked up at the rain, and remembered a poem, that his mom read to him... "If I were the rain, that does connect the sky, and the earth which can't meet and hold on eternally would I have been able to connect, and hold onto someone's heart?"**_

_**It was raining that day, so hard, and I was the cause of my mother's death, it was me that led that Oul here, to her, to her death, I led my mother to her death, it was me, who killed her!**_

_**The rain was pouring down hard, on the city, everything was doused and drenched with rain. Cars whizzed by, splashing nearby walkers who had the rain. The city was extremely crowded, and they had been taking a walk in the park, to hang out, she had just picked Ryan up from the street. They walked passed toward the creek. The sky was covered in clouds, leaving anything to illuminate and warm the earth gone.**_

_**"Mom..." whispered Ryan, as he looked up at his mother, with a large grin, his eyes were a deep green, just like hers, and his grin was as big as it would ever be. "Thanks for picking me up today." he said grinning,**_

_**"Its fine honey." said his mother, with a smile, as she wiped off his face, and looked at him eye level, be sure to wear your poncho, we don't want you to have a cold." said his mother, with a smile, as she looked down at him, with a grin.**_

_**Ryan and his mother were walking in the park, on the way home, as they'd been at the grocery store, Ryan was carrying a fresh bag of bread, and milk, as they walked jauntly in the rain, as though nothing horrible were going to happen. Though he had some kind of premonition, that something bad was going to happen, as he looked up at the clouds, which hadn't even cleared a little. He took a quick gaze to look at the ducks at the creek.**_

_**"Hey!" yelled Ryan, as he ran out toward the river, as he tried to get the young girl, who was walking out toward the creek. "Hey, you can't swim, it's too deep!" yelled Ryan, as he ran toward the kid, suddenly he felt something hit him, and his vision went dark... **_

_**When he awoke, his mother was dead, and he was lying down beside her, drenched in rain, and blood. Several police cars had surrounded him, they weren't sure how she'd died, the case was unknown, but one thing was for sure, she'd died trying to protect him, from something, that he or nobody else could see, or could know about. **_

_**Something that some evil, vile, disgusting, thing had done to torn his family apart, to of torn his life apart. Whoever it was, he could not forgive them for it, and he was the one to blame, he had led his mother to her death, by chasing after that girl. After that everything became clearer, the cloudy figures, were now cloudy looking, and only would go transparent, when he was in a good mood, which was on a rare occasion.**_

"Ryan!" yelled Eris, as she tried to rush over toward him, to try and help him, though the moment she took a couple of steps, Ryan gave a death glare toward her.

"Don't interfere, this is my fight!" yelled Ryan, as he managed to stand up on his feet, his body cold, and soaking wet, from the blackish rain that was falling from the cloudy. He jumped up, and realized that the ground was solid, and that it had stopped sinking, though the black, and stinging liquid still fell from the skies taunting him, as he took each step, in a flurry of pain. "I won't lose!" yelled Ryan, as he ran toward him.

He charged forward, the moment he did, he felt a monstrous claw strip at his back, causing blood to ooze from his back, as he screamed out in terror; in pain, he dropped to his knees, and whirled around, and slammed his blade into the dirt ground, he missed completely, and soon jumped up in fear, as he heard the whizzing sound of the monstrous arm, flying toward him. He jumped up, and moved slightly, causing the monstrous claw to get a glancing cut on his right leg, as drips of blood fell to the ground, not much, but his back was still bleeding heavily, and even the cloak wasn't regenerating, and for some reason, he felt that as a bad sign.

"It seems your spiritual particles are running down." said the monster, with a laugh, "Just making it easier to kill you..." said the monster, as he swiped toward Ryan.

Ryan swiftly dodged, barely able to, he gave a cough, as blood leaked from his mouth, and covered partially of his lower lip. He wiped it off, nearly gag at the stench of the black liquid, which was now completely covering him, making his movements slow and heavy.

Ryan leaned against a pole, breathing heavy, blood running down the side of his face, blood oozing from his legs and pack, as he fell to the ground, a bloody mess, his soul, and body torn with the fleeting pain, he couldn't figure it out, why did he keep charing after him, what was with this, feeling...

He gazed over at Eris, and Karyn, both counting on him, Eris couldn't fight, she didn't have any powers, he had taken them, and now it was his job to try and save them, to try and avenge his mother. Suddenly he found himself standing, the blade clenched in his bleeding hands, as he glared up at the monster, fearless, though shaking. His body was shaking completely, his hands could barely hold the blade, as his legs began to shake like jello.

"I'll protect them with my life, because there my best friends, and no one, who copies my mother, is going to kill me!" yelled Ryan, as he ran toward the monster. The blade still clenched in his hands, and with a surprised look on his face, he pulled back his blade, and slammed it into the ground trying to slash at the monster, but the monstrous demon had actually moved backwards completely evading the attack, but something weird happened, cause suddenly the ground cracked open, as a massive light emerged from the cracks, something had emitted from the tip of Ryan's blade, as it flew toward the monster, and hit, and shattered his mask, and split the monster into two.

Ryan stood their shocked, watching as the power kept intensifying, not sure where it was coming from, until he looked down at his blade, and his hands, which were glowing a deep solid white, an aura had completely surrounded him. He tried to let go of the blade, but he couldn't it was now a part of him, as the power kept intensifying, as if something, had been bottled up, was now released, it seemed to caused massive damage, and Ryan had no control over it. He suddenly saw the aura change a deep black, an echoing laughter filled his mind.

Suddenly his vision in his right eye, went completely blurry, and than just faded completely to black, Ryan touched his face, and realized something cold, as ice had completely covered his face, but on the inside toward his face, it felt so warm and pleasant. Ryan continued to touch the icy surface, each time it sent shivers down his spines, as though this was something vile and evil, escaping from him.

Suddenly the cold surface shattered, leaving Ryan's eye to slowly come back to normal, the light dispersed, and Ryan's blade faded into oblivion, not worried much about wherever it went, he struggled toward his body, as he wanted to just get in their, and take a long nap.

Blood, and body parts rain from the sky, along with the foul black liquid, which seemed to now be dissolving everything it touched, including Ryan, as his cloak began to burn, he walked over lazily toward his body, and felt the gravitational pull.

Ryan looked up and everything was perfectly normal, the sky was illuminant, and nothing had actually gone horrible wrong, everything was back to normal, except something were crushed, and the area smelled of smoke, and flame. Ryan looked over at the ground, which had been split apart, it seemed to stretch on forever. "Did I really do that..." Eris ran over toward him, and looked down at him, a worried expression seemed to cover across her face, in fear.

He looked over at Eris, "I finally killed him, I avenged her, I finally got justice..." he muttered to himself, tiredly, he smiled at Eris, who was rushing toward him. With that image in his mind, he fell asleep, and in a deep sleep too, without a word.

He woke up, some time near eleven P.M. he walked over toward the grave silently. Ryan looked around, he father was staring over at the grave silently, they were standing in the cemetery, the sky was dark, the area showed no signs of the fierce battle that took place here today, everything seemed to of returned back to normal, besides the blood which was on Ryan's back.

His father smiled over at him, "Ah, well Karyn, is home, and Serene, volunteered to walk your girl friend home, she was quiet tired, you don't look so well you're self... What exactly were you doing, while you two were gone?" he asked, a sheepish smile on his face.

"huh..." muttered Ryan, as he looked over at his dad, angrily.

"Ah, my beautiful wife, who passed away ten years ago... oh how I miss-" muttered Mr.Alexander, as he looked over at Ryan, who was furiously glaring at him. "What!?"

"Ten years, it was six years, how can you forget your own wife's departure from the living, what kind of husband are you!?" snapped Ryan, as he looked over at his dad, anger feeling his eyes.

Mr.Alexander laughed, "I'm glad to see you're in a cheerful mood, and to answer your question, I am the type of dad, who fell in love with a beautiful woman, who died in order to protect her child, and don't forget that you are that child." said Mr.Alexander, as he walked off silently, and he gave a smile.


	5. Fight With Half Sibling

**Chapter Five**

**Fight with Half-Sibling**

Ryan sat up in his bed, and gave a yawn, as he stood up, he looked up at his roof, and noticed that it had been completely repaired, he blinked, and remembered the fight, and whole upset he'd got when it was destroyed, but how long had it been repaired. It's been two month's since that day. Serene and Eris, had become great friends, and they always sat, and ate together, gossiping, and talking about stuff, that frankly he found no interest in, unless he really was just dying to know.

He had gotten a bit more use to slaying these ouls, and stuff, so he had realized just how strong he was, though still something bothered him. There was still so mysterious, about Eris, though he just didn't really know what it was.

He got up to take a shower, and get dressed, about thirty minutes later, his dad rushed into the room.

"Ryan!" yelled his dad, in panic, and fear, as he gave a face, as though he was scared, and in a deep amount of fear. "Ah, it's so horrible, their is something so creepy in the attic." screamed his dad, as he ran around in circles.

"What the heck are you doing, well go look at it!" yelled Ryan, annoyed, as he watched his dad cowering in fear. "Man, you're a heck of trouble you know-" Ryan opened the front door, and a cold splash of icy water, fell on his back. "Ah, cold!" yelled Ryan, as he jumped up in shock and shivered violently, and glared over at his dad.

"Ah, that will teach you to clean your room." said Mr.Alexander, with a smile, "Also I need you to check the attic, before you head off to school, theirs something that is making some kind of racket in there, and well I need you to figure it out, for me, I have to go to the hospital, so seeya!" said Mr.Alexander, as he dashed off, toward the hospital, trying to beat his record, of sixteen minutes, and twenty-five seconds, for three and a half miles. For that reason he didn't buy a car, he used to run cross country and track in his early years, Ryan didn't run much on the off season, though he had actually improved quiet a bit.

Ryan opened the doorway to his attic, and looked up, their seemed to be something burning, he continued up the stairs, nothing could be scarier, than an oul, being close to death, or his dad, and he had to experience all those things on a daily basis, so he thought that nothing would ever be as scary.

Ryan looked over at Eris, who suddenly gave him a sweep kick, which sent Ryan into the wall, before he could even say something, or make a movement for that matter. Ryan looked up dazed, and kind of surprised that something had just hit him. "W-What's going on..." he whispered, as he looked around, and blinked.

The whole attic, had been redecorated, there was a bed, a small night stand, with a candle glowing immensely, a white flame, which lit the entire attic, which was kind of surprising, because their attic, was probably the largest part of the whole house. Than next to the night stand, were several trophies, that Eris, had gained over the past two months, while playing softball, with the high school's team, with Serene, she had gained M.V.P., and most team spirit. Serene and her had tied."just one quick question..." said Ryan, calmly, as he looked over at Eris, and than his face went into a scowl, as she wasn't really paying attention to him. "What the heck are you doing in my attic!?" yelled Ryan, as he tried not to hit her, they'd became probably best friends, but they had there arguments, and this was something that was not even necessary.

"I needed a place to stay, you idiot, and since you're the one who took away my powers, its only fair that you let me stay in your house." snapped Eris, as she looked over at Ryan, suddenly the doorbell rang.

Ryan began walking down stairs, toward the door which was ringing, he found it more annoying, how come Serene had came so early, he continued walking, step by step, getting angrier by the second, just thinking that she'd lived in his closet for two months, without him even noticing,

"Hey!" exclaimed Eris, as Ryan opened the door, she was standing beside Serene, as she gave a smile, and looked over at Ryan, who gave a dumbfounded expression. "What's the matter.."

"What the heck, you're in my attic, the next second, your giggling with my best friend there..." grumbled Ryan, as he looked over at Serene, and Eris, who was whispering something. "Gah, let's go..." muttered Ryan, as he looked over at them, and smirked, as they began to walk toward the school.

They entered Mr.Millstrum class, and Serene and Eris, were talking when all the sudden, Mr.Millstrum cell phone goes off, and so does Eris's.

"That's weird..." muttered Eris, as she looked over at Ryan, who was already getting ready to fight, he looked over at Serene, who gave him a swift kick in the chest, something that nobody noticed. "Usually when a Soulter's Oul Tracker goes off, its usually disconnects all other communication devices, unless it's another Soulter's Oul Tracker.

Ryan didn't have time to listen, he jumped out the open window, and stared up at the insectoid creature, who was giving a slight growl.

Ryan jumped back, and tried to guard against the creatures attack, though he couldn't seem to figure out, where it was about to hit.

He blocked the attack, and tried to parry it, but the monster's arms, had him completely busy, suddenly an arm stabbed toward him, he managed to slice it off just in time, though he was too busy, trying not to be devoured by the monster's massive jaws.

"Eris, are you coming to fire works festival in town?" asked Serene, as she gave a large grin. "It's an event that all our friends go to, Ryan, Tyler, me, and Drew." said Serene, as she looked over at Eris.

"I'm your friend..." whispered Eris, as she looked over at Serene, and so many memories faded in her mind, as she looked over at her.

"Of course you are, and well if that's not a good reason, Ryan's there, I know you have a crush on them, I mean its obvious you love him." said Serene ,as she wrote something down in her note book. "Hey, where is Ryan..."

"W-W-W-What me..." exclaimed Eris, as she thought back to all the time Ryan, and her had spent together. "N-No we're just friends..." she said, as she looked off into the distance, as she watched Ryan, try and battle, Drew caught her eye, as he seemed to be looking toward Ryan.

_**"Is this your girlfriend?" asked Mr.Alexander, he gave a slight sheepish smile.**_

_**"No, she's just a good friend is all." said Ryan, as he looked over at his dad, who was just shaking his head, and Eris, was staring curiously at the refrigerator, trying to figure out how it worked.**_

_**"I'll protect them with my life, because there my best friends, and no one, who copies my mother, is going to kill me!" yelled Ryan, as he ran toward the monster.**_

Ryan came back, and looked over at Serene, who was smiling, with a large grin, as though she'd just won some kind of battle.

Eris was blushing, her face was completely red, and she seemed to be trying to hide something, as she was extra interested in her text book.

"Um, what's going on..." whispered Ryan, as he looked over at Eris, as she seemed to be trying to hide behind her text book. "What's her problem!?" asked Ryan, a bit annoyed, as he sat down, and didn't seem to know what was going on.

"Mr.Millstrum, the answer is Y2x+5." said Ryan, as he tried to figure out what exactly they were doing, he gave a slight smirk, over at Serene. "See I'm pretty smart." said Ryan, as he looked down at his homework, he looked at all the Xs. "Okay, I'm sometimes smart..." said Ryan, as he stuff the eight points in his book bag, mainly he only answered four questions, out of a fifty question homework assignment, which they'd had for a month.

"Very good." whispered Mr.Millstrum, as he started writing another problem on the board, he than looked up at the clock. "Oh it seems school's over, well be prepared to study for your test." said Mr.Millstrum, as he seemed extra urgent to try and get out of his classroom on time, as though something was highly important, that he had to intend to.

"What's the rush?' asked Ryan, as he walked up toward Mr.Millstrum, with a slight annoying glance on his face. "I mean, do you have a meeting or something sir." he said in a more polite tone, as Mr.Millstrum, gave him a slight smirk, and ruffled his hair.

"You act like my annoying dad..." whispered Ryan, as he tried to fix his hair, as he began to walk out of the classroom, Serene and Eris, were waiting for him outside in the hallway,

"Oh, Ryan, remember on your walk home, be safe, and let me add on more thing, always guard your friend's with your life, even if its something as valuable as your own life." said Mr.Millstrum, as he walked mysteriously out of his classroom, with that small note.

"Okay..." said Ryan, as he felt a weird shiver down his back, as he exited the classroom, unsure of what he meant by that.

Ryan looked over at Serene, who seemed kind of distracted, she looked over at Ryan, and smiled. "Guess, who I got to go to the fireworks festival." said Serene, smiling, as she looked over at him.

"huh, yeah..." whispered Ryan, as he was still pondering on Mr,Millstrum words. "Hey, stick closed to me, okay..." whispered Ryan.

"Yeah... sure..." whispered Serene, as she looked over at Ryan, a bit sympathetically, he'd been so much different after he had been to the park.

Ryan continued walking home, and looked over at Serene, "That festival isn't even going to be started until another two weeks, I bet Eris will of left by than, I mean its been two months, and about two weeks, its already summer vacation." said Ryan, as he looked over at Serene,

"Do you want her to leave!?' exclaimed Serene, a bit annoyed,"I mean, you finally found yourself a girl friend, and I mean shouldn't you at least act like your a little upset." said Serene, as she looked over at Ryan, who just shrugged, and continued walking. "Hey, you know have you seen Eris, around speaking of that..."

"Ah, why should I, I've only known her for about two months, and three weeks, and she's kept so many secrets from me, you wouldn't even know the half of the relationship." said Ryan, as he went to open his front door, when he noticed that the light in his attic was off.

"I wonder..." whispered Ryan, as he looked up toward the attic light.

"Answer my question!" exclaimed Serene, as she poked Ryan on the shoulder, as she looked over at Ryan, "Have you seen Eris or not?" S

"I-I-I don't know... Yes, okay, I like her..." confessed Ryan, as his cheeks were turning a deep shade of red, a smile widened across his face. "but I don't know where she is..."

Ryan looked over at Serene, who suddenly seemed to disappariate, and the darkness fell upon him, and the next moment he was slammed in the stomach. "What the-" yelled Ryan, as he felt something pull him up from his shirt.

Ryan looked up at Drew, who had a smirk across his face, his eyes flashing, a deep red. Though his clothes were different, in fact everything about him was different, his hair was much much longer now, it was actually in a wild mess, it was a deep snow white, and his eyes were a menacing blood red, The thing that Ryan noticed, that shocked him the most, was the black cloak he was wearing, it was exactly like his, and it seemed to radiate with power.

"Idiot... so let's see..." said Drew, in a snarling voice, a smirk laid across his face, his face seemed even more destructive and powerful, in this darkness it filled him, this power was so much more radiant, and he could barely stand. Suddenly Ryan felt himself flying, but he wasn't flying through the air in his black cloak, no he was completely mortal, and defenseless.

Ryan slammed into the light pole, he felt his spine shatter, and he heard it crack, he yelled out in pain, as he looked over at Drew, who pulled him by the shirt, a smirk still on his face.

"You're still so pathetic, and weak." whispered Drew, in Ryan's ear, Ryan looked up still confused, and blinked even more, just trying to comprehend, what all had happened. Ryan nearly wretched, as Drew gave him a swift punch in the stomach. Ryan couldn't move, he was completely paralyzed not only by fear, but his spine was completely broken, he could feel himself slowly dying.

Ryan fell to his stomach, as Drew stepped on his back, his body was completely numb, and he was now bleeding from his back, what was he going to do, he couldn't do anything.

"So, tell me soulter, where's Eris..." yelled Drew, as he kicked him in the stomach, causing Ryan, to go flying off to the ground, and slide onto the hill of dirt. Ryan clenched his fist, as he managed to get up on his knees, though he felt just being in this position, was causing massive pain to be sent all through out his body.

"Wh-Who are you!" called out Ryan, as he tried to figure out somewhere to turn into a Soulter, though he had no clue, he was stuck in his body, and this time, he was going to be the one leaving.

Drew walked up to Ryan, and smiled with a fierce grin, "You know ghost, demons, and soulters are basically all the same thing... except with demons... they can kill mortals, soulters can kill mortals as well, but only if they offer up a severe price, we demons have nothing to be held from, we are the ultimate and will always win." said Drew, as he lifted Ryan up, to eye level, and stared into his eyes.

"I'm going to let you die slowly, and painfully, ever since I realized who you were, I decided to crush you before you realized how much power you really have, Soulter Ryan Alexander, you will never see that girl of yours. You see Eris has been keeping a secret from you, actually everyone in your whole life holds a secret against you, everyone knows what you did..." said Drew, with a smile, as he stared deeper into Ryan's eyes, hatred burning within them, causing Ryan's own heart to slow down.

"Everyone loved your mother, everyone couldn't live without her, and you killed her.." whispered Drew, as he pulled Ryan in closer, "Serene's actual mission, is to kill you, for killing your mother, when you kill someone who has such an impact on this world, you will go not go to heaven." said Drew, as images of Ryan's mother flashed into Ryan's mind ,he stared into Drew's eyes, and their his mother laid dead and bloody as the day she'd died.

"but their was one person, who couldn't stand your mother, you know who that was it was me... your mother was nothing but a disgusting filthy doxy, She didn't deserve to live, all those great things she did, everything the mayor of this city told you, are all lies. She was nothing, but someone who sat at her house, and twiddled her thumbs, she never helped heal the sick, she never helped out the unfortunate, all she did was sit their, and take credit, while others were suffering. You know I don't have any family, and when I was at the orphanage, you know what your mother did to me, everyone who was in that nursery got some kind of christmas present, you know what I got, nothing... and you know what your mother said to me. something stupid such as...

_"I guess I'm sorry dear, I ran out of presents, but you know what you've got a special present, you've got the special gift of giving your gift to someone else." those are the exact words she said to me, who cares about giving, the only reason that pathetic loathe woman didn't give me anything was because she hated me, because she knew about my seal, she could see my eyes, she despised me, because I was a demon." said Drew, as he wrapped his throat around Ryan's neck. _

_"You idiot!" chocked out Ryan, as he looked into Drew's eyes, not afraid anymore, actually he felt rage coursing through his veins, "You stupid jerk, my mother was going to adopt you!" chocked Ryan, as he gripped Drew's hands, and suddenly a force shot out through him, as he felt a surge of energy feel him._

Ryan stood their, power and energy coursing through his veins, he kicked Drew off him, and pulled out his blade, and stuck it to Drew's neck. "If you hadn't ran away, you would of been my step-brother, but you know what..." said Ryan, with a smirk, as he looked into Drew's eyes, as they stood with rebellion and anger. "I'm glad you ran away, like the spoiled little brat you are!" yelled Ryan, as he stared into Drew's eyes, which were now turning an even deeper and darker red.

Drew stood up, and rapidly charged toward Ryan, pulling out his own black saber, as they both clashed blades, each wanting to dominate the other, kill the other one, for cursing at them. Ryan jumped back, as Drew slammed his blade down into the Earth.

Ryan tried to parry the attack, but he moved too slow, and had to dodge a quick swipe by Drew, Ryan rolled over onto the light pole, and onto his body, suddenly feeling a gravitational pull, "no, shoot!" yelled Ryan, as he rolled over.

Drew giving a smirk, as he lunged forward, aiming the blade for Ryan's heart, Ryan closed his eyes bracing for impact, awaiting his death, Ryan suddenly heard a farmillar voice, call from atop the hill.

"Ryan!" exclaimed Serene, and Eris, Ryan looked over at Drew, who had quickly transfigured back to his original form, and said in a worried voice.

"Come quick, hurry Ryan's hurt!" yelled Drew, as he gave Ryan a quick kick in the face. "You better call the ambulance, I'm going to perform C.P.R." said Drew casually, as he slammed his fist into Ryan.

Ryan helpless, none of his body was moving, not even mouth would move, and the pain was started to become too much, as he looked up at Drew who was slamming his chest, and the ambulance whizzing by toward him. Drew than leaned in and whispered to Ryan's ear. "You're lucky that my stupid girl friend was here to rescue you. I can't kill you yet, until I have that item, seeya brother."


	6. The Vision

The room was very sterile, and very evident of being of the hospital type. The walls were solid white,. they were two beds, one empty and one filled with a helpless child, seeming to be on the verge of death.Always seeming to enter here, with more and more wounds, getting worst and worst. His mind a blank with nothing, but the will to kill, the person who he hates the most. A stand in the middle, holding nothing more than a vase, filled with flowers, to the end of the room, was a sink, and a bath room. High mounted in the corner, was a television, which seemed to be barely working, though taunting whoever stood underneath it, as it seemed to be not supported very well.

Out toward the walls, was a large glass window, which seemed to over look the city beautifully. A moon high above the sky, illuminating everything in its radius, seeming to make everything stop, and just take a look. Painting a breath taking picture to the viewer of such a life and endless moment in time.

Though the beauty was shattered, by the pain of one child, who seemed to be lying on the bed, seeming to be near death, just lying their, a sick cancer spreading through his body, as though he were about to die that instant.

Ryan gripped his bedside, as he looked over at Eris, he lied their on his sterile bed, looking up at the ceiling, anger spreading through out his veins. He wanted to kill him, he wanted to make sure he never walked on the face of this Earth again. "Damn him!" yelled Ryan, as he gripped at his chest.

He looked over at his pulse, and watched as it sped up rapidly, he was shaking with rage. He couldn't stand the fact of the words he spoke to him, he noticed that no one was here, but Eris, she didn't seem to be paying attention. She was looking out toward the distance of the area, a slight expression of fear upon her face.

"I'll make you pay..." whispered Ryan under his breath, as he looked up at the ceiling, trying not to rip apart the sheets, which lay upon him. He looked up a memory fading into his mind...

"But their was one person, who couldn't stand your mother, you know who that was it was me... your mother was nothing but a disgusting filthy doxy, She didn't deserve to live, all those great things she did, everything the mayor of this city told you, are all lies. She was nothing, but someone who sat at her house, and twiddled her thumbs, she never helped heal the sick, she never helped out the unfortunate, all she did was sit their, and take credit, while others were suffering." whispered Drew, into Ryan's ear. As he held up his blade toward him, trying to slit his throat in the process. A smirk appeared on his face, not really seeming to care for the fact, that he in a battle, and all the awful things that had just sprang from his lips.

"That jerk1' yelled Ryan, as he slammed his fist, down his heart rapidly increased, he suddenly fell out of his bed, as he completely starting coughing, his heart rate slowed down. Everything began to blur, as he couldn't breathe. "Cr-" he couldn't speak, he couldn't move everything was still. Eris's scream echoing in his ears.

"Is everything alright I heard a scream- Quick, he's going to cardiac arrest, Mr.Alexander, You're son!" yelled one of the nurses. As the medical staff ran into the room. Eris looked over she seemed upset, she suddenly rapidly began to cry.

A bit upset aren't we.." whispered a voice, inside Eris's ear, as she heard it she knew immediately who it was.

What do you want Drew, care to explain why Ryan is in so much pain., You insignificant jerk. Ryan has done nothing to you.

Shut up, you soultrice, I have no use for you. Other than what affiliation you have with the Other Side.

That's none of your business, you are a demon, and a traitor to the Other Side, and I'm ending this empathy link, right now.

"Fourth Soul, may my mind be released." she whispered, as the people holstered Ryan, into the bed, and re-strapped him, putting him also in induced hypothermia, while trying to revive him.

Three Hours Later

"You should just quit.." whispered one of the nurses, as she looked over at Mr.Alexander, who gave a slight sigh, he was shaking rapidly. "No, I can't give up, I've never lost a patient, I won't lose my only son..."

Serene and Drew, were now standing their, Serene was crying hysterically, and Eris, was in the corner, not speaking to anyone, staring at a mirror, looking at her expression, which held such a humane look to it. In her eyes were tears, and in hear consciousness leaked fear, and panic. Her body was trembling, and she seemed to be almost as upset as everyone else. Despite the fact, of her not having any emotions.

Suddenly their was a light beep, Ryan began to cough, though his eyes would not open, a word muttered from his lips, as he seemed to be up their. "Drew, I won't let you escape." as the words were muttered confusion spread across the room. "Eris, please forgive me."

Ryan awoke, after four hours of constant C.P.R. his dad looked down him, almost looking worried and upset, but trying to hide it all the same. Ryan looked up at his dad, who looked like he was about to cry.

"D-D-Dad..." whispered Ryan, as he looked up at his dad, who turned his attention, several staff members were talking about how emotional he had gotten, despite him always being calm, and collected.

"Thank God!' yelled Serene, as she gripped him tightly as she held him so close, she began to cry on his shoulder. Not seeming to lighten her grip, it seeming to increase, as though Ryan would disappear in thin air.

She looked into Ryan's eyes, and Ryan thought that they might have even turned a slight silver, and suddenly a piercing gold, the pupil,seeming to be twisted into a pinwheel shape, as they stared at Ryan. Deeply, she didn't seem to notice."

What's this feeling, why is everyone so different, the thought perturbed her mind, as everyone seemed to move slowly, and in an instant something entered her mind in a flash, her heart rate began to race, and cold chills were sent down her spine.

"So you're telling me, that Eris is still their!" yelled a cloaked figure, who seemed to be radiating with energy. He gave a glare, and turned his attention at the sky. His cloak soon fell, but it quickly re-risen, the only thing that lay in her mind was the color of his eyes, which were a piercing blue.

"Yes, she's still their, and she seems to of lost all of her powers, not only that, she gave them to some kid, who was said to of defeated one of the deadliest Ouls in the universe." said the shortest of the black cloaked figures, who seemed to talk in a slight angered accent.

Suddenly the cloaked figure, pulled out his blade. He gave a maniacal laughter, "Well, I guess we better go ourselves, before the searching squad goes down their, and murders her on the spot." said the shorter figure.

The wind picked up, as they stood their, and suddenly disappeared, and left her staring at the empty meadow, tress surrounding the thicket. The sky illuminated by only stars, the moon seeming to of fully disappeared. The jewel of the sky, was completely gone. All her senses had suddenly opened, the scent of the area, was of deep wilderness, which smelled of fruit, and nature, but also the smell of blood and lust for destruction.

The air was sharp and cold, which made her shiver, she gazed down into the puddle of water beneath her feet, as she gazed down, she realized that one eye was deep gold, and another eye was a light silver. She couldn't seem to remember her real eye color, was it green, or gold, or silver...

Suddenly their was a white flash, and she was left their with nothing, but a disoriented look upon her face, and the look of Ryan, who's face was completely red. "S-S-Serene..." whispered Ryan, in her ear. Suddenly Serene's eyes turned back to emerald, but at that exact moment, she start to breathe heavy, and in an instant she had collapsed on her stomach, leaving not a trace of where her suddenly distortion had came from.

Ryan and Serene's eyes met, as she awoke, the sun was streaming, everyone had seemed to of left, but Eris, who sat their on the window pane. Staring out into the distance, she stood up, and walked over toward Ryan, her eyes met his, and suddenly she began to cry.

"E-Eris, are you alright..." whispered Ryan, as he looked up at the sky, unsure what was going on, Eris wasn't the type of girl to display her emotions so openly to anyone. He looked over at Serene, and realized Eris, was in her soul form. He gave a sigh, and was unsure what was the matter.

"I'm fine.." she whispered, as she looked over at the sun rise, which seemed to hold such promise of a new day. "Are you alright? she said softly, as she tried to figure out what to do, what to say, to the two kids who were now injured because of her. For some reason she had a premonition, that today was going to be the day that, they'd come.

"Well, I guess you both seem fine now, miraculous how you kids heal so quickly these days." said Mr.Alexander as he entered the room, he turned into the direction of Eris, gave a slight nod, and than acted as though she wasn't even their. "Well, let me help you up, you'll be late for school."

Serene and Ryan got up, Eris quickly started toward the school, but before she left, she gave a solemn wave to Ryan, and dashed off, in an instant she was gone.

Serene and Ryan sat their in the car, everything was quiet, everything seemed so eerie, had he really battled all those monsters. Had anything of this sort happened, the year he's spent with her, he still had no clue, what he was going to do. He felt so weak, and he couldn't even protect anyone, and yet it was his burden.

Suddenly the car came to a direct stop, he got out, and slung his bookbag around his shoulder, and helped Serene get out of the car. Their stood Eris, her expression blank, and neutral as usual, Ryan stared into her eyes, a whole nother soul seemed to appear with in them.

Ryan walked into Mrs.Joy's classroom, whispers and rumors were spreading like wild fire, about Ryan's injuries, some were that he was in a gang, others were that he had been training to come back for track, and injured himself, so many things were flying across the room, but the moment everyone noticed he was their, it became aruptly quiet.

Suddenly the bell for lunch rang, they were still late, by three hours, they must've of finally recovered. He gave a sharp yell in pain, as he moved his leg, and felt a staggering pain shoot through his calf. Everyone turned to his attention, he dropped to one knee, gripping at his leg.

Serene and Eris rushed toward him, but he shoved them away, and ran off, barely able to walk, but something had gripped at his leg, he turned to go into the bathroom. He looked at the mirror, his pulse quickening. "What the heck..."

He stared at his reflection, he turned the cold water on, and splashed it against his face, to cool himself down. He stared into his reflection, he looked completely normal, he blinked again, and in that split second, laughter rang through his ears, and, his face completely transfigured, to a mask of an oul. His eyes were a golden yellow, a skeletal mask was forming across his face, 

His breathing quickened, as he fell to the ground. "D-Darn!" he yelled out, as he rolled out on his back. He felt his face, trying to stop the mask from forming. "Damn, Damn, DAMN!" he cried out, in pain, as he slammed his fist on the ground. He crawled out of the bathroom, and barely stood up.

Tears forming in his eyes, as he tried to find Eris, he suddenly felt himself hit the wall, and than realized that the mask had shattered completely. The irrevisible sound of laughter had disappeared, but yet it sitll haunted him.

He headed outside, maybe they were eating lunch out their. Serene usually did with some of her friends, and since Eris was her best friend, it only made since for them to be together at the very spot. He turned around, and watched as Drew following him carefully, they never met eyes, Ryan actually sped up in fear.

Serene, Eris, and a bunch of other girls sat around the tree, under the tree, it was one of the last days of school, and they all wanted to gossip, and talk about things before they left to not see each other for about a whole summer. They all looked around, Eris had volunteered only for the fact, she had to keep an eye on Serene, to make sure she hadn't "saw" anything.

"So, Eris I here that you and Ryan, are dating is that true?" asked another girl, as she looked over at Eris, who was staring at her, her eyes blank, and her mind set upon with one thing in the mind, dating? "

"No, we are just friends, that's all we are." said Eris, with a smile, as she gave a nod, and looked over at the other girls who seemed to roll her eyes.

"Do you know how lucky you are?" asked another girl, who seemed to be looking envious over at Serene and Eris, which made Eris a bit uncomfortable. "Ryan, is probably the smartest, and most quiet boy in the whole school, he's also the most polite, so why did he talk to you..." asked the girl, her tone, now holding a slight bit of anger.

"Well, lets just say, I saved his life..." said Eris, as she muttered to the girls, giving a grin, as she looked over at the girls, who all seemed to pick up a lot of interest.

"So, what did you do?" asked Serene, as she seemed to hold a bit of interest, she was even a bit jealous of Eris, Ryan seemed to talk to her a lot more now a days, and she felt ignored, almost a third wheel.

"Nothing, you see it was late one night, and Ryan was walking home, and he nearly got hit by... um one of those little motorized things, that go on the road, what are they called again?" she said, biting her lip, and trying to struggle for the idea, of what she was trying to compose her mind of.

"You mean a car..." asked Serene, as she looked over at Eris, who gave a slight nod.

"Yeah, anyway... that's how it happened-" Eris was cut off

"Oh, so the deal was that since you saved him, Ryan would have to go out with you, that's pretty sneaky Serene... ah now I just gotta save Ryan." said the girl, as she started planning out a course.

Eris stared over at everyone, and suddenly felt her cheeks turn red, as the question was finally asked..

"Do you love Ryan?" asked Serene, as she looked over at Eris, everyone seemed to stop exactly what they were doing, as Eris seemed to nearly lose any since of composure she had, and her cheeks were turning a slight red. She stared over at the group, and couldn't figure out what emotions were going on.

Ryan looked over at the group of girls, and was glaring over at Drew, they were both locking eyes. "Anytime, now Drew..." whispered Ryan, as he stood ready, though he wasn't sure why he was so over protective. As they walked over toward the group of girls to sit down.

Drew continued walking, not really carrying anymore, he closed his eyes, and calmly said. "For the last time, that was to test your strength." said Drew, with an evil smirk across his face. "I realize you have no chance, against me, and that you're nothing but a pathetic loser." said Drew, as soon as he got in earshot, of the girls, he said to Ryan. "Oh come on, stop being such a loser you-"

Eris's gaze caught Drew's and she glared up at him, she knew about the whole fight, she stood up, and was just about to grab Drew by the shirt, when everyone turned to Ryan.

"Ryan, do you love Eris?" asked the girls, Serene turned around, her face turned slightly red, and she looked over at Ryan, curiously, as she stared up at him, apparently wanting to know the answer more than anyone.

Eris looked up at Ryan, as she stared up at him, just about as curious as Serene, though she pretended not to care, as she looked back up at Drew, who was smiling wickedly, apparently about to grab something from his back pocket.

"You know..." said Drew with a smile, as he looked over at Eris, "I think I might want to talk to Eris for a bit, if you guys don't mind, that is okay with you Ryan?" asked Drew, with a slight smirk, as he looked over at Ryan, who seemed ready to transform any second, and slice him to pieces.

"I'd be delighted." said Eris, as she played along, and offered her hand for Drew to carry, Serene than glared over at Drew, and she felt her heart breaking as she watched the two walk off in silence.

They stood out of earshot, from the group, both glaring at each other, seeming to of already understood the terms they were on, but they weren't sure whether to slit each other's throats, or figure out what valuable information the other person could relay to them.

"I don't get how Ryan, got those powers, but I do admit, you're one fool... Eris." said Drew, with a slight smirk, apparently knowing her name, and most information already about her. "I could sense your spiritual presence the moment you entered this realm, and now it seems to be nearly completely drained, but a slight wisp of power." gave Drew, in a slight melodic laugh, as he looked down at Eris, who was still glaring up at him. "What I don't get is, how his spiritual power, which was zero, increased beyond the normal limit of heck even, a soul guardian..." said Drew, as he looked mysteriously into Eris's eyes envious, with greed and wanting power. "Whatever you did, you witch, I will figure it out, and I will take Ryan's power."

"I didn't do anything, obviously, he did some-" she suddenly felt Drew grab her throat, she looked up helpless, she couldn't fight him off, this substitute body was too weak. Her eyes widened with fear, wondering what Drew was going to do to her. "You have five seconds, you witch..." said Drew, as he stared into her eyes, "You're a demon!" she yelled, as she managed to shut her eyes, just in time, before the leer could reach contact with her.

Ryan suddenly turned around, as he heard Eris's scream, everyone turned around, to see Drew gripping at Eris's neck, apparently he didn't care how many people saw it. Ryan rushed over toward Eris, as she gave another scream in pain, as his gripped tightened. "Let go of her Drew!" yelled Ryan, as he stared over at Drew, who merely snickered.

"She has something, and if she would just tell me how you got so strong, than I'll be glad to kill her quickly." said Drew, with a smirk, as he looked over at all the other girls who seemed frozen in fear, even Serene was speechless, as she seen her boyfriend, threatening to kill her best friend. "You're not so tough, without being in your soulter form..." said Drew, with a smile, "In fact your more pathetic and weak than ever." said Drew, as he stood up, and grabbed Ryan by the shirt, and slung him into the pole.

Ryan managed to land on the ground, breaking the impact, though he still managed to hit the pole, though not as strong as it would of been. Ryan ran up to Drew, and dodged his punch, and tried to sweep kick, but his leg was quickly stepped on. Ryan used his other leg to kick him off, as he moved his leg from underneath Drew's grasp, though now it was lame, and he thought he had heard it crack. Ryan felt something slam against his chest, it was a claw, where Drew's hands had been, now were two large claws, which seemed to be just taunting him. Ryan pulled the claw out of his side, and yelled out in pain, as the claw tips seemed to be covered in some kind of purple liquid.

Ryan didn't felt something hit him square in the chest, and found himself stand their, in his black cloak, Eris looked over at him, desperately, still trying to grab Drew's hands from her neck. Ryan pulled out his blade, and slammed it into Drew, with a massive force.

Drew surprised by the oncoming transformation, didn't have time to parry the attack, or dodge for that matter, and struck straight in the chest, he soon coughed up blood, trying to grasp for air, he pulled out a black canister, and engraved within the wooden canister was some type of sigil, and the top was a green S. He pulled the top off, and guzzled down the liquid, dropped Eris, and ran off within the shadows, of the city's forest.

Ryan soon found himself, being pulled toward his body, in a thrustful motion, he looked up at Eris, who seemed to be desperately, trying to compose herself down, from her fearful state. All the girls looked over at Ryan, who had just fended off some kind of school murderer.

"You saved my life..." said Eris, as she looked up at Ryan, with a grin, her heart fluttering, and suddenly she gave him a light kiss on his cheek, and than left without a word, leaving nothing, but a tattered piece of her dress in the distance. She ran off toward Ryan's home. Ryan stood their shocked, and a bit surprised by her actions.

Serene, and the other girls stared over at Eris, and Ryan, all witnessing, Ryan's rescue of Eris, from a bloody psychopath. Serene ran over toward Ryan, and looked up at him, tears in her eyes, as she looked up at him. "A-Are you alright..." she whispered to him, as she tried to comfort him.

"I guess... so." he said softly, unsure what to really say, as he gripped his cheek, this was the second time he had kissed her, he gave a sigh, and looked over at Serene. "Well I gotta go!" yelled Ryan, as he gave a wave.

"Ooooh Serene's jealous!" yelled one of the girls, as Serene quickly gave a turn, her face was a deep red, and a slight look between a smile, and a glare of anger within her eyes. "I'm not jealous, I'm just shocked to see Drew, did you see that, he nearly killed her."

"Yeah, but I saw that envious gaze you flashed as Eris, and Ryan kissed, don't deny it Serene." said one of the girls, as she looked over at her, and gave a slight wise nod.

Serene stormed off, not really wanting to say anything else. "Its all a lie!" she exclaimed, as she looked over at the girls, and stormed off, toward her home. She looked over at Ryan's home, and than opened her front door, and slammed it shut. "She doesn't love him, wait what am I saying I'm not jealous..." she muttered to herself. 


End file.
